Digimon VIRAL
by Xuza
Summary: Original kids and Digimon! Four confused Chosen Children in a world now run by a destructive, powerhungry monster. Their current situation seems bad enough as it is, but they have no idea what's in store for them...
1. Four Is A Solid Number

Author's Note: Eheheh, probably shoulda posted this earlier, since it'd been written for months, but I forgot + got lazy XD;; I'd like to note that it's been years since I've seen Digimon Adventure/02, so some of the concepts I'd mentioned (ie/ time passing, I think it got changed for 02...) might be off, but bear with me. It still makes plenty of sense.

Ah, also there's a site for this: http: I don't own Digimon or the concept of it X) Or Kiwimon. But the rest of the characters/Digimon belong to me ;o;

**Digimon VIRAL  
Episode One  
Four Is A Solid Number **

The clouds rolled over the city, grey and murky. They were full of rain and ready to cry it out. Cars screamed at each other on the roadways, trying to get home before the downpour began. The faintest bit of light was filtering through the mist, reflecting off of the windows which covered the walls of the tall buildings.

A tall, violet-haired boy was running down the street, headphones on and panting. A distant rumble of thunder made the boy pick up his pace. Evidently he was trying to avoid the rain and get home quickly. The bottoms of his grey pants were wet from the puddles of last night's rain. He turned corners a little too quickly, frowning when the CD he was listening to skipped a few times.

Finally deciding to take shortcuts which involved alleyways, he let his legs carry him through one. And another. And another. But the one he was in at the moment was different. Long, narrow, and dark. And there was the faintest glow coming from between two rusty dumpsters. A thin cloud of smoke was being blown away from the mysterious light. He looked around to see if anyone was watching him, then quickly ran over. 

The first thing his eyes fell upon was a long curl of crimson red fur, dirty and slightly matted. A few steps later, he noticed a lump of white fur. Fur which had black, white-tipped feathers sticking out of it.

"What…the…" he quietly muttered.

The lump of fur moved. It pulled its head from under a pile of blankets and shook itself violently, in a very dog-like manner. On closer inspection it very well looked like a dog. It had thin, black-rimmed blue eyes, and red patterns under each. Its ears were long and hairy…red, too. The thing's stomach and paws were a dark grey, and it had odd red bandanas tied around each leg, with white zigzags and more odd feathers. It also wore a gold chain around its neck with a sun hanging off of it.

"A stray dog, but…a really odd looking one…" The teen frowned, his cobalt eyes scanning over it again.

It looked at him as if he were an idiot. "I'm not a dog…"

One of the batteries rolled out of the boy's Discman when he rapidly backed into a wall, accidentally hitting the machine against it. "What…the…hell…"

"I knew something like this was going to happen…" The creature rubbed it's paw over it's face in an unusually humanlike manner. "Like I said…not a dog. I'm a Digimon…. Err, digital monster, of sorts…" 

The teenager rubbed his back from the previous impact, noting that wall grime had gotten on his blue plaid over shirt. He grasped for his music player, and jerked his hand back when he felt something new laying on it. It was a small, electronic device. Red and grey, with a loop at the top and a long, red tassel hanging from the bottom. He stared at it as if it were about to leap at him and tear him apart, then shared that look with the dog-like thing.

"Oh, excellent…. _Finally_ found you, after waiting so long…in this damn alley. What's your name, kid?" The Digimon seemed to relax, it's eyes taking on a slightly softer appearance. 

"N-Nathan. And I'm nowhere near being a kid. What in hell is going on here anyway?" Nervously, he finally reached out to take the device, which felt unusually warm to the touch. The screen in the center of it lit up and showed a curiously accurate map of the surrounding area. Nathan stared at it in awe for a little then turned his attention back to the Digimon.

"I see you're completely foreign to the idea…but we're partners. You're a Digi-Destined…and I'm your Digimon partner… Oh, the name's Canismon…by the way." He said it slightly monotonously, with a gaze that was hard to see if he was looking at Nathan or something past him.

"Digi-Destined? Mind explaining yourself a little more?" Nathan pocketed the device, but then thought twice and pulled it out again, "And what _is_ this thing anyway?" 

"Explaining…would simply take too long. Let's just say…you'll figure it out as time goes on. And the tasseled thing…is your Digivice. You'll find it's use soon enough too…" Canismon turned to look behind him at the odd light, frowned, then looked back at Nathan. "And we gotta get going."

"Whoa, what? I'm not going anywhere. Do you honestly expect me to go _anywhere_ with some dog I met in a dirty alleyway? You've got to be-" But Canismon didn't let him finish his sentence, and instead grabbed the tall boy's red-white sleeved arm and pulled him into the light, which had suddenly become much brighter. All that was left after a few seconds was the one lonely battery that fell out of Nathan's Discman, raindrops pummeling into it.

Nathan opened his eyes to find a clear blue sky up above. Puffy white clouds floated overtop, and he could hear the rustle of nearby trees. He was about to close his eyes again and enjoy the calming surroundings when everything came back to him.

He jerked into a sitting position, and whipped his head around to locate the thing that brought him here. Sure enough, there it was, sitting quietly under the shade of a tree.

"Hey you jerk, what the hell was that about? I never gave you permission to drag me anywhere!"

Canismon opened his crystal-blue eyes slowly. "Hmm…I'd have to apologize for that. But it was the only way…that I could get you to come here."

"And just where is 'here'?"

"The Digital World, Nath… It's what you could call…my home. And a few of us have been needing help fighting off what's come to…destroy…it…" He turned his long-eared head to look off into the forest.

"Us? Oh no…don't tell me there's more of you digital monsters around here." Nathan slowly stood, and glared at the white-furred creature. But the sound of a river caught his attention and he couldn't help looking. And, noticing how similar this world was to his own. Of course, without all the buildings and people.

"As if the name didn't give it away…" A slight toothy smile slid onto the canine muzzle, then vanished just as quickly at the sound of a new voice.

"CANISMON YOU JERK!"

For a second Nathan's partner looked up at him with an expression that pleaded 'help me'. And then was hit with an oncoming blue streak that knocked him back a couple of meters.

When the dust cleared, Canismon was sprawled on his stomach, with the most annoyed expression possible on his face. His attacker was apparently a large, slightly humanoid cat. Blue furred with yellow stripes. It was evidently female, by the sound of the offending scream. Her arms were wrapped in belts and torn yellow wristbands, and a yellow bandana was tied around her neck, with a silver bell hanging off of it. Her eyes were similar to Canismon's with their black rims, but hers were green. She had yellow moon patterns under each eye, and a small horn on her forehead. Her paws, stomach, and tail tip were all white. 

"Thank you ever-so-much for _leaving_ without any _notice_ for such a _long_ time, Canismon. I really _appreciate_ it, you know." The cat finally got off of the poor Digimon and stood at her full height. Which surprised Nathan as she was almost as tall as he was.

"As if I had any choice…you damn cat… You very well know the reason I'd left…" He straightened up, brushing the dirt off of his fur.

"Actually, I don't. Enlighten me." The catlike Digimon was standing with her back to Nathan, evidently she hadn't noticed him yet. 

Canismon cleared his throat, and actually stood on his back legs. Which suddenly made Nathan feel even more uncomfortable since the two were pretty much the same height.

"He's right over there. If you'd even…bothered to look…"

Slowly the feline Digimon turned, and her eyes widened at the sight of the teen. "Well you could've _told_ me that was the reason you'd gone! Gah, err, hello! I'm Kotamon! I take it you must be Canismon's Digi-Destined partner…"

Nathan frowned and nodded slowly. "At least that's what he told me." 

"Oh excellent, excellent…" Kotamon looked around by just shifting her eyes, frowned lightly, then turned to look back at Canismon, who'd gone back to using all four legs. "I'll be back…really soon." And then she was gone.

The purple-haired boy walked over to a tree and promptly leaned on it. "So who was that, huh? Your _girlfriend_?"

Canismon frowned. "We don't have a term of that sort here… So I have no idea…what it means. But she's a Digimon whom I'd known for…a long time. We mostly try to build a resistance…against the destruction of the world…"

Nathan smirked, then looked up at the sun. "Sounds like you're an anti-terrorist group or something like that, haha."

"Again…another word we don't use…"

"And yet you have 'jerk' in your vocabularies?"

Canismon shrugged. "Can't be helped…"

"So when can I go home?"

He shrugged again. "When this is all…over."

Nathan rubbed his head with a hand, disrupting the black-rimmed goggles that he wore. Absentmindedly he fixed them, and the olive-colored bandana that lay under them. "Do I have any choice in these matters?" 

"Only sometimes…" Canismon smirked.

At that moment the air in one spot shimmered slightly and Kotamon reappeared, but this time with another human. A girl.

This caught the two boys' attention and they looked over.

Kotamon grinned. "While you were gone, I figured I'd run off too. And guess who I found on my little detour in the other world…!" 

"More like I found you…" the girl muttered, "You _were_ in my attic after all." She looked to be about Nathan's age. Her hair was long and chestnut red, with a large yellow bow tied in her hair. Her eyes were green, like Kotamon's. She wore a white dress shirt over a long-sleeved black top. Her khaki pants were rolled up at the shin. The black and red striped socks she wore led down into shoes with the same color pattern.

"So I see…you have a Digi-Destined as well…" Canismon was nodding slowly to himself.

Finally the girl noticed the tall boy that was half-hidden in the tree's shade.

"Oh! Hey, don't I know you from somewhere?"

Nathan frowned, and thought for a little. "We go to the same school I believe…you're in Class D, right?"

She nodded.

The boy pushed himself off of the tree and walked over, smiling. "Nathaniel Abney from Class A. Call me Nathan though. Good to see I wasn't the only one dragged here against my will." 

"Haha. Zuza Vesper, Class D as you already know. Everyone calls me Zuru though… And I…actually wasn't dragged here against my will." She smiled nervously.

Nathan stared at her, completely confused. "What? Why? You came here without knowing when you'd come back if at all…willingly?" 

Zuru tilted her head. "Calm down… And yes. Kotamon told me I'd go back for sure, and that time passes so slowly here that however long we're here…only a few seconds or so would pass in our world…"

The boy rounded on Canismon now, and whined. "But you never told meeeeeeee! We could have avoided the whole pulling-me-into-a-hole thing if you had!"

Canismon wearily looked at him. "I figured it wasn't…a necessary fact for you to know."

Nathan was visibly resisting the act of hitting the dog. Zuru noticed this and promptly changed the subject.

"So what exactly is the reason for us being brought, or sent, here anyway? And are there more people coming or is this the closest thing to an army we have?"

Kotamon swished her tail. "Like it's been mentioned…we Digimon need the help of the Digi-Destined to destroy the evil that's been eating away at our world as of late. You hold the Digivices…and you and them help add to our strength to help us Digivolve."

"So we're just here for you to use us?" Nathan wasn't liking this too much.

The feline sighed. "No, that's not it at all… It doesn't help at all if you're not willing to help… And we fight it together…how exactly I'm not sure, I don't know everything." Kotamon looked over to her partner. "And the other's haven't returned yet. They'd left even before Canismon had and I haven't seen them since."

"How many-" 

"Two." Canismon interrupted the girl. "Just two… If it's enough…we can only hope…"

The next few moments passed quickly and eventfully. The white dog Digimon whipped around to face the other direction, yelling 'Summon Stone!'. Next second, a giant stone spike had shot up from a lump of grass, with a writhing, snakelike Digimon impaled on the tip. It hissed shrilly and then vanished in a cloud of data fragments.

The dog Digimon swore loudly, earning a surprised look from his partner. "We're being watched…they know our location. I suggest we get out of here…"

Kotamon nodded, picking up her partner once more. Canismon turned to look at Nathan.

"Ohhh, no. No way."

"Suit yourself…" Canismon shrugged. And thus Kotamon swiftly lifted Nathan off the ground and ran off with the boy screaming.

"I do wish he'd shut up…"

And quickly, in a rather unusual manner, Canismon leaped downwards and buried into the ground, leaving the path behind him covered.

The building was gray on the outside, gray on the inside. Every window was roughly boarded up, with sunlight faintly shining through. The floor was rather empty save for a few large wooden crates, and fleece blankets were tossed around the corners.

"Some place you guys have here…" Zuru stared at the rafters overhead.

Nathan brushed himself off. "You have got to be kidding me…"

She sent him an empathetic look. "No, actually… I have a barn on my property, I love them."

The boy just shook his head slowly. Then looked around suddenly. "Hey, where's dogface?" 

"Canismon?" Kotamon was standing by the doors. 

"Yeah…him."

"Most likely checking the surroundings." The feline turned to look at the two. "Can't be too careful nowadays, I guess…"

"You could assist in the checking you know. I've always had the indoor watch covered."

Another new voice caused the attention of the three to reach upwards, into the shadows among the rafters. A pair of bright turquoise eyes was staring at them from the darkness, blinking occasionally.

Kotamon seemed to relax. "Lutramon…it's only you. _Really_ don't need to go around startling us like that."

The new Digimon unhooked it's long-clawed feet from one of the upper corners of the building and landed on the ground with a soft thump. She looked almost otter-like and seemed to wear an odd hat, which looked almost like a fish tail with an anchor-shaped marking on it. The hat also had long, semi-transparent jellyfish tentacles hanging out like hair. Her fur was a golden yellow color and her eyes had an upside-down raindrop markings circling them. Her belly was covered in long black fur, while her back was turquoise, with a ridge of rose-colored fins. Black belts covered her long feet and short forepaws, and her black, fishlike tail looked almost as if it had been sewn on.

She quickly reached up to scratch under her hat with a back paw. After eyeing the two humans for a second she turned her attention back to Kotamon. "I'll assume the girl is your partner. And the boy…Canismon's, correct?"

The feline nodded. "I have no idea _when_ Ospreymon plans to return. The two of you had left even before Canismon. Don't tell me you came back empty handed?" She smirked lightly.

"Nowhere near…" She tilted her head in the direction of the corner, where a pile of fleece blankets had decided to begin moving. "And if anything, I'd returned before any of you."

A girl tiredly pulled herself out from under the blankets, smoothing down her long black hair, which was messily tied in two buns behind her ears. She stood and sleepily walked out into further sunlight. She wore a baggy tan hoodie with the sleeves torn right off, and a pirate flag painted on the bottom-front. A long white tee-shirt was visible underneath. Long, leather pants reached almost down to the floor, but left her chocolate-colored work boots visible. It took a few seconds for her to open her grayish eyes and notice the company. She smiled and waved nervously.

"Good morning? I'm Gin. Gin Mathers. Lutramon told me there would be other people here but…well…yeah." 

Zuru blinked and then smiled at the new girl. "Zuza Vesper. Zuru preferably."

"Nathaniel Abney." The purple haired boy walked over and shook the girl's hand, Zuru quickly realizing she forgot that and thus following to do the same. "Nathan works better though."

Gin grinned. "A pleasure to meet both of you. Glad to know I won't be the only human-"

Her sentence was interrupted by a certain white dog Digimon bursting in through the wooden doors.

His partner turned and waved at Canismon. "Oh such great timing! We've got another human here!"

The dog shot a quick glance over at Gin and then back at Nathan. "There'll be time for introductions later. Now, we have something to attend to." 

"Jerk…" muttered Nathan. But nonetheless the lack of pauses in his Digimon's speech made him curious. The six ran out the doors, only to run into a pair of snakelike monsters, with odd giant golden headdresses and small feathered wings. Their yellow slit-pupil eyes were glaring straight at them.

"Ohhhh no. Why _them_? Why _now_?" Kotamon rubbed a large paw over her forehead in slight irritation.

"My my. Not happy to see us, now are you?" One of the snake Digimon asked the cat.

"That's not good at all. Let's fix those negative feelings then!" The second one grinned evilly.

"What are these things?" Gin muttered. "More Digimon?" 

Lutramon nodded. "Hydramon to be exact. They keep showing up and there's nothing we can do but destroy them…otherwise they'll spread the location of our hideout."

The first Hydramon cackled cynically. "Such smart Digimon! Too bad we have to be rid of them! TOXIC STRIKE!" It's muscles contracted and then it leapt forwards, right at Kotamon. The feline attempted a dodge, but the snake's fangs still grazed one of her paws, leaving purple marks all over it. She winced in pain.

"_Damn_. They weren't able to do that before, what's going _on_?" 

Lutramon leapt at the Hydramon that just attacked, slightly pinning it to the ground. "I don't know and I don't think we'll find out." The thing easily shook off the Digimon, but she used her momentum to round on the other. She began spinning vertically, a thick swirl of water began forming around her. "AQUA TWISTER!" The spinning mass of liquid, claw and tail knocked the second Hydramon back quite a bit.

"It won't be so easy with us!" The first was on it's belly once more. "Toxic Strike!" It leapt forwards, its long white fangs heading straight for Nathan, who was paying more attention to the other fight.

"Summon STONE!"

Another thick spike of rock shot up from the ground, striking the Hydramon in the jaw. It hissed and writhed violently, then proceeded to be hit by more earthen spikes.

"Nathan, are you alright?"

The boy blinked and shook his head roughly. "Yeah…! I'm okay…and thanks…"

Canismon smirked. "It's my job." 

"This doesn't make sense." Lutramon eyed the two opponents. "They're Rookie level like we are, they can't just get these skills out of thin air…"

The second Hydramon had by now recovered from Lutramon's attack and was preparing to get back into the action. Kotamon noted this, and stretched out a claw and pulled the other back.

"GLACIAL ARROW!" A thin streak of blue light formed between her hands and with a flick of a claw it released, and shot at the serpent. It managed to dodge a direct attack but got hit in the tail. The arrow burst in a sparkling cloud of ice then revealed that the Digimon had been thoroughly frozen to the ground. "Canismon, now!" 

"Landmine!" The canine barked, his feet suddenly bathed in a pale red light. He leaped towards the frozen Hydramon, running around it repeatedly, and leaving glowing red circles wherever he stepped.

"Lutramon!" Gin cried out. Her partner was being roughed up by the other Hydramon while Canismon and Kotamon were busy with theirs. But the snake stopped when a large explosion resonated from where its brother had been. The landmines had exploded. Particles of data floated up from the area. The Hydramon was definitely angered now, it's eyes glowing sinisterly. 

"How dare you destroy my brother. YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS, WEAKLINGS! VENOM CLOUDS!" Holes opened up in the ground around Hydramon, and purple smoke burst out, quickly filling the air. 

"Whatever you do, _don't_ breathe it in!" Kotamon warned, covering her own nose and glaring at the seething reptile.

A faint rustle of wings overhead caught the attention of the group. Even Hydramon became a tad distracted. 

"Saved anything for me you selfish friends of mine?" 

"Ospreymon!" Lutramon coughed violently after calling out. She waved a short paw, sending a slight wave of water to soak the Hydramon. It looked at her and laughed.

"What was that? You're becoming more and more pitiful each second!" 

Canismon readied himself. "That's what…you think." He thrust his paw into the atmosphere, the ground undulated slightly under Hydramon. Another spike rose up, so quickly that it thrust the Digimon into the air, above the venomous clouds.

A green, bird-like Digimon immediately flew into the creature. It dug it's black-tipped, golden wing claws into the creature. "ELECTRICAL OUTLET!" An electric shock was thus transferred from the bird to the snake. Hydramon screeched and thrashed about. But soon it, like its brother, vanished into particles of data. A small object fell from it to the ground as the clouds cleared away. It landed by the explosion site, beside another object of the same sort.

"Just in time!" Kotamon shook dust from her fur. "Although…we could have easily gotten rid of it ourselves."

Ospreymon laughed. "I'll be sure to take your word next time I see you getting owned." The Digimon, now at ground level, was taller than both Lutramon and Canismon (on all fours), but his head was lower than Kotamon's. Though the two feathery spikes on his head stood higher. He was basically a light green color, though his wings, chest, and tail were a darker green. There were also dark green streaks which led from his eyes to the spikes. His feet, like his claws, were a golden yellow color, with black nails. White bandages were wrapped around his neck and waist. He also had a ridge of long orange feathers down his back, which led into sort of a second tail, which covered the dark green one.

"Another Digimon…" Zuru stared at the bird. "That means…there should be another person with him! ….Right?"

The white dog nodded. "Did you lose him…or something? I know you're irresponsible Ospreymon…but that's just ridiculous."

In response, the bird glared at him with his grayish-purple eyes. "Of course I didn't lose him. In fact, he's right there."

The group followed his claw to where he was pointing, where a white haired boy was running towards them. He wore a gray and red tee shirt over an orange turtleneck sweater. His zipper-bottomed, army green pants lead down to black and white pleather boots. He reached the group and sent an upset expression at his Digimon, his honey brown eyes focused on him.

"Ospreymon! You didn't need to leave me behind and fly off like that…!" His voice was quiet though it wasn't the right tone to be. And he didn't seem to sound tired, regardless of the running.

The osprey crossed his wings over his chest and closed his eyes. "Of course. You know I'd run off without a reason. I give you my apologies dear Audrey." He then smirked. Gin sent the bird a disapproving glare.

The boy, Audrey, blinked and jumped slightly, as if he'd just noticed the three humans and three Digimon that surrounded his partner. "Oh. I see then." He nervously moved a stray white hair from his face and smiled shyly. "Hello. My name is Audrey Perrendale…"

Nathan reached out to shake the boy's hand, who hesitated and then accepted it. The violet haired boy smiled. "Nathaniel Abney. Or Nathan. And the dog's my partner, Canismon. Guess that you're the last of them then."

"Zuza Vesper, please just call me Zuru though." The yellow bow in her hair caught a glance from the new boy as they too shook hands. "And the cat here's Kotamon." 

Gin shook the boy's hand enthusiastically. "And I'm Gin Mathers. The otter thing is Lutramon!"

The otter Digimon was ignoring the latter introductions, mumbling to herself about how often the names were repeated.

Audrey nodded. "Pleased to meet all of you. Ospreymon pulled me into this world when I found him in a tree at the end of a huge field. I figured I would have been alone here but I guess I was wrong."

"I thought that too." Gin had a slightly thoughtful expression on her face. "I was the first one here, after Lutramon found me in a beachside cave…"

"Speaking of Lutramon," Kotamon commented, "Where'd she go?"

"I'm right here, blind cat." The otter Digimon was sitting by the explosion site, where the two odd objects remained from the Hydramon. The Digimon immediately bounded over to examine.

"That explains it…" Canismon sniffed at the things, which looked like small, purple computer chips. "They must be what gave them more powerful abilities."

Ospreymon had just now realized that the Hydramon were more powerful than normal, since his team had actually found them a threat. "Makes sense. I'm gonna destroy them now. If you object, too bad." He touched his claws to the small chips, sending electric shocks down to them, which caused them to spark and then burst.

Lutramon just shook her head slowly.

Nathan sat himself down on the ground and sighed lightly. "Now that there's time, Canismon. Mind explaining what this thing is for?" He then pulled out his red, tasseled Digivice. This caught the other kid's attention.

"Hey, I have one of those too!" Gin reached into her pocked and pulled out one that looked identical to Nathan's, except that hers was blue instead of red.

"Same…I think we all do." Zuru had her green device laid out in her palm.

Audrey nodded quietly. His black Digivice was dangling from his fingers.

Canismon looked at each of the devices in turn. "As I, and most likely the others, had said…those are your Digivices…"

"Which isn't a very detailed explanation, I admit…" Lutramon stared at the thing, while curled up beside her partner.

"We only really know that they're important and true purpose will be revealed later blah blah blah." Ospreymon rolled his eyes at the lack of information they had.

"So where exactly did you find that…tidbit of knowledge from?" Zuru asked, frowning. 

"Basically…Canismon found a floppy disk that told him a few things…which basically led him to _us_ which in turn led us to _you_." Kotamon scratched her head lightly. "Then we read the thing and that's all we really know…"

Audrey spoke up. "Where's this disk now, then?"

"We destroyed it…" Canismon answered simply, his ears perked up to listen to the surroundings.. "Can't let the enemy get a hold of it, can we?"

Nathan mashed his hands into his hair. "Too big of a lack of information, gah. Who's the enemy?" 

Lutramon sent the confused boy a pitiful look. "We're still not sure of its name. But it hasn't exactly been doing us well by destroying areas of the Digital world."

Gin allowed herself to lay down in the grass. "That doesn't sound very fun…Guess we're here to stop it, aren't we?"

The Digimon nodded. Then a low growl rose from the back of Canismon's throat.

"The thing is. You won't be able to stop him, because you'll be done for when I'm done with you!" 

Quickly the group jerked out of whatever relaxed state they were in. A Digimon appeared from behind a line of trees. A large brown bird with a white mask over her face…

"A Kiwimon!" Lutramon leapt to her feet, her fangs bared.

"And just when I thought we'd have a bit of peace…" Zuru sighed. 

"Good luck with that thought." Kotamon had her arms in her attack position. "This is going to be tougher than those Hydramon."

Ospreymon had taken flight overhead. "That and she's a Champion. Because, you know, Champions would be so much easier to beat than Rookies."

"Ospreymon…shut up." Canismon flexed the claws on one of his paws. All at once the four Rookie-level Digimon attacked.

"Lightning Typhoon!" A twisting tornado of electricity from Ospreymon. 

"Summon Stone!" Multiple spikes of rock from Canismon.

"Glacial Arrow!" Two frosty arrows from Kotamon.

"Aqua Twister!" And a spinning, watery thrashing from Lutramon.

The four attacks hit the kiwi Digimon, resulting in a large amount of dust and dirt being kicked up from the first two strikes…


	2. Wild Dog Howling

**Author's Note:** Ahaaa Finally got around to adding the second chapter:D I think it's funny when Digimon swear. 

Also, follow through my homepage, there's a link in the fansection that leads to the Digimon VIRAL homepage. :D Check that out for profiles, images, and more!

Enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** Don't own the Digimon concept, Kiwimon, or Woodmon :D; But the other characters are mine!

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**Digimon VIRAL  
Episode Two  
Wild Dog Howling**

The dust from the attacks cleared quickly. The scene earned a shocked expression from the team. Though slightly roughed up and with ice crystals in her fur, the Kiwimon appeared unfazed. And she was cackling evilly.

"You amuse me so, you know. I could understand the Hydramon being beaten oh so easily but me? Beaten by a bunch of Rookies? How absurd!" She laughed some more, obviously very full of herself.

"Oh just please shut up." Ospreymon had electricity crackling around his claws. "Lutramon?"

"It'd be my pleasure" The otter Digimon opened her mouth, her jellyfish tentacles rising up. "MARINE CRASH!" A thick jet of hot water was shot at the bird, who was soaked but otherwise unaffected.

"I get it now..." Nathan muttered, "Why Lutramon always soaks them before this..."

"Electrical Outlet!" The bird flew directly into Kiwimon, almost crashing but managing to get his claws into her feathers. The same voltage that destroyed Hydramon coursed into the giant kiwi. The water from the otter Digimon helped the electricity penetrate!

Kiwimon screeched, but the screech soon became a disturbing laughter. She obviously faked being affected. Ospreymon was thrown off as she shook herself wildly, flinging the smaller bird into a tree.

"Ospreymon!" Audrey ran over to his partner, hoping he wasn't terribly hurt.

"Damnit." Canismon glared at the Champion-level Digimon. "We can't take him on one by one...like that. We wouldn't stand a chance."

"Then let's do it the way we always do." Kotamon pulled her claws back, forming five arrows this time.

"Here here." Lutramon ran over to the Kiwi, and began spinning quickly. "Aqua Twister!" The bird winced, she was being hit right in the eyes.

"Glacial Arrow!" The blue feline shot all five of the arrows at Kiwimon's feet, which would hold it for at least a little. "Canismon!"

"Landmine!" His feet were once more bathed in that red glow, and he made sure to circle the Digimon as many times as he could. He leaped away from it and the mines exploded once he hit ground.

"Nice job guys!" Gin called out.

"That seemed too easy..." Zuru pondered.

Once the dust cleared it seemed she was correct. Kiwimon shook off the dirt, water and remaining ice that covered her brown feathers.

"You meddling weaklings! You have angered me, and that will be for the last time! LITTLE PECKER!" Small brown birds with tiny white helmets and black feet shot from the beak of Kiwimon. Shooting into the remaining Digimon like missiles. They exploded and the Digimon were knocked back, significantly injured.

Their respective partners ran over to check on them.

"Lutramon, please say something!" Gin had slight tears in her eyes.

"I'm okay, Gin"

"Kotamon? Are you okay?" Zuru apprehensively reached towards the large cat, who nodded a response.

"Canismon, that was insane..." Nathan really had no idea what to do.

"No, Nathan..." The white dog struggled to get up. "What's insane is...giving up."

Kiwimon cackled evilly. "That's not an insane idea at all! Why, it's exactly what you should do!"

"SHUT UP YOU STUPID BIRD!" The purple haired boy violently gave the thing a rude gesture with his finger. "Why can't you leave us alone?"

"Nathan!"

The giant Digimon's eyes widened, then filled with more anger. "You ignorant little creature. How dare you address me in such a manner! AVIARY MISSILE!" A large white beam shot from Kiwimon's mouth - another unnatural attack.

The boy stared forwards in shock, he hadn't expected it to attack. But before it hit, his Digivice produced a bright red glow, which expanded and surrounded his partner.

"Canismon Digivolve to..."

The Digimon expanded in size. The feathers on his back fused together to become rather finlike. His front paws elongated, and now only had two, long claws. His back paws transformed into white goat-like hooves. The one, curled red tail split into two larger ones. And he now had a red, zigzagged bandana around his waist, gold rings on his ears, and one in his nose. 

"ARAINUMON!"

The great dog leaped forwards, catching the white beam in his fore claws, tearing it apart. Kiwimon gasped.

"No one dares attack my partner in such a manner, you disgusting thing!" His voice was deeper, and more gravelly now. "WILD STONE LANDSLIDE!" The sky flashed quickly, with a bright white light that faded as soon as it had appeared. Red static shapes appeared around Kiwimon, which suddenly took on the form of giant pointy stones. They hung in the air for a second before plummeting down into the opposing Digimon.

Kiwimon screamed in pain. But Arainumon wasn't done yet, he moved between the rocks - very quickly for his size - and caught the bird in the side with one of his hooves. She was pummeled by the giant stones as she slid, finally stopping when she hit a thick tree, breaking it in half.

"You...How dare you! I CAN NEVER FORGIVE YOU FOR THIS NOW!" She leapt at him once more, but his claws caught her in an uppercut before she got too close, and held her skull in place.

Arainumon pulled her close, until she was inches from his face. The golden ring in his nose gleamed in the sunlight.

"As if I need forgiveness from something like you. You cannot even think for yourself. Your mind is swept clean of your own thoughts. It is as if you were voluntarily possessed by your master."

Kiwimon could barely move her beak as she spoke. "How dare you accuse me of such a thing. I would voluntarily serve my master until the day that I die."

"Then you must be really, really stupid." Arainumon whipped his arm around, flinging the bird away from him. "DEMON FISSURE!" He flexed his long claws, and thrust them into the ground, producing a giant crack in the ground which headed for the now landed Kiwimon.

"No! It won't end in such a way!" The giant bird leaped out of the way of the crevice. "A simple hole can never defeat me! Little Pecker!" The tiny bird missiles shot out once more.

"You're just proving to me your stupidity." Arainumon knocked the tiny things down to the ground, where they exploded weakly. "Plus, my attack hadn't finished".

"What?" Kiwimon was then caught off guard when multiple, shadowy claws reached out from the fissure the giant canine created. They scratched and grabbed at Kiwimon, pulling her into the darkness. "Nooooo! This cannot be! I could not have been defeated so easily!"

The claws gripped tighter, squishing the Digimon. She soon exploded into fragments of data and the claws retreated. A small grey computer chip was left in her place. It began to fall to the ground but a remaining claw snatched it out of the air, and pulled it into the gap, which closed with a resonating rumble.

Nathan stared at the giant thing that was his partner in awe. "Arainumon...how?"

He looked at the boy with his black rimmed, blue eyes. "I told you there was a use for the Digivices...This must be it." He sighed quietly. "Are the others alright?"

Lutramon sat up. "I think we are. Wow, Champion level."

"Congratulations Cane." Ospreymon was on his feet, and he and Audrey had come over during the battle.

Kotamon just stared at him, seemingly speechless.

"Will our Digimon be able to do that too?" Zuru poked at her green Digivice.

"I don't see why not." The giant Digimon nodded slowly.

"Cani-err-Arainumon?" Nathan apprehensively approached his partner.

"Hm?"

"Thanks...for saving me back there...I shouldn't have been so stupid." He lightly punched his head repeatedly. He was also blushing red from embarrassment.

"Kid, I told you...it's my job. If you hadn't provoked it then...it most likely would've chosen them all as targets. And without such...concentrated energy, this could have been much more difficult."

Kotamon pouted, her own face was red. "Arainumon I'd like to thank you too." It was almost too obvious she didn't want to have to say this. "If it weren't for you..." She sighed. "We probably would'a ended up like that turkey. Or worse."

The giant canine smirked. "I wouldn't let that happen to my friends...Besides. I'm sure you, captain amazing, could have taken them on if I failed." He put his paw on the blue feline's head, as if he were going to give her a noogie. Instead, he underestimated the weight of his fist, and thus knocked Kotamon to the ground.

Lutramon chuckled. "His size is getting him overconfident. I'd hate to see what happens once he's back to normal."

Audrey, who was sitting beside the otter, looked at her curiously. "Why? What'll happen?"

Ospreymon grinned. "Ever see a cat beat up a dog?"

The white haired boy blinked, and then shook his head slowly. "No but...I'm sure that'll be an interesting sight."

A drop of sweat ran down the back of Nathan's head. He could see the tension building up in front of him. And at that moment, a red light enveloped Arainumon and he returned to his Rookie form. The boy smiled nervously.

"Canismon..." A little anneurysm was visible on the blue feline's forehead as she peeled her face out of the dirt.

The white dog blinked, his pupils small. Apparently, Digimon change personality a little when they Digivolve. But now...he had lost his calm edge and was staring fearfully at the angry Digimon.

"And after I brought up the nerve to say something nice...you...you...THREW MY FACE INTO THE FLOOR!"

Kotamon leaped up onto her feet, and then pounced at Canismon, who managed to dodge. Without wasting any time, he was off and running, the feline right behind him.

Gin and Zuru were speechless watching the scene. And didn't really know whether to be amused or concerned.

Nathan walked over to the group and plopped down onto the ground. "Please, someone tell me this is safe and normal."

Lutramon was on her back laughing hysterically.

Ospreymon tore himself from the amusing sight to answer. "Normal, sure. And if by safe you mean that they won't slaughter each other with special attacks, then unfortunately that's the case too."

"Looks like Kotamon is a little sensitive to being thrown into the ground." Gin mumbled, and then chuckled a little.

Zuru let a disturbed smile creep onto her face. "A little?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It seemed that for the next hour or so, all they saw was the two Digimon chasing each other around. And when Canismon couldn't get out of the way, he'd get wrestled to the ground. Then with the right amount of writhing and biting he'd get away again, and the scene would replay.

The four kids sat on the roof of the old barn, their eyes on a flaming red sunset. The light gleamed on the metal shingles, except where they were rusted. It looked like a field of lava. The river below them sparkled with the same intensity, and they could hear the water bubbling over the rocks. Occasionally a gentle wind would blow through, making the leaves on the trees rustle, and disturb sleeping birds which chirped their protests.

"I'm still amazed how much this place looks like our own world...it makes me feel comfortable here." Nathan muttered in awe.

"Like the countryside...it's so quiet and...natural." Zuru commented, trying to re-tie the yellow ribbon in her hair.

"I just love hearing the water." Gin was sprawled out, warming herself with the setting sun's warmth. "So relaxing."

It was quiet for about a minute after that.

"Why do you like this place, Audrey? If you do..." Lutramon absentmindedly played with her long feet as she asked this.

The boy was quiet for a few seconds, then he frowned. "Because there's people here that talk to me."

"Why? Are you some antisocial freak that no one likes back in your world?" The green bird Digimon piped up rudely.

"Ospreymon!"

The bird let out a squawk as he was kicked off of the roof by a long white paw. At least he could fly.

"You ho, that was completely uncalled for." Kotamon, the offending kicker, crossed her arms over her chest in annoyance.

Audrey smiled lightly. "No, it's okay. He's like that a lot, I'm sure you know."

Gin opened her eyes, and seeing the boy's sad face, promptly rolled over and then sat up beside him. "Even so, no reason for you to let him be like that."

The white haired boy looked at her without moving his head. "I don't mind, really." And then went back to being silent.

"Well...all right." Gin frowned lightly, then lay down again.

Zuru looked up at Nathan, who was sitting a little higher than her. "You believe 'im?"

Nath shook his head.

Canismon sighed. "Humans..."

"You're one to talk." Ospreymon was back on the roof, perched right at the top.

"Shut up, please." The white dog then went back to curling up to sleep. He still had dirty and matted areas on his fur from his previous scrabbles.

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The sun had barely finished descending when the eight of them returned to the run-down, gray building. Whatever light had been inside was now competely gone, either cut off by the trees or taken away by the sun's own need to sleep. And it wasn't long after that they were all asleep.

Canismon was on watch, and he himself was feeling drowsy. Nathan slept with his back against a wooden crate, his fleece blanket haphazardly draped over his body. Zuru was several crates up, curled up in a tightly wrapped ball - Kotamon was on the next crate over, sleeping in a stereotypical feline position. Audrey was silently sleeping in one of the darkest corners. He could have been not sleeping at all, his face was even covered with his blanket. Ospreymon was perched above him, and was furthest away from the other Digimon, still offended but purposely dragging out his grudge. Acting like an upset girlfriend. Gin and Lutramon were sleeping in some sort of blanket-covered lump of human and Digimon, and would occasionally snore in duet format.

The sky outside was an inky black. It almost looked like it was a soup of squid ink. Now that must be a pretty unappetizing soup. Of course, there was the large glowing sphere of the moon, stealing the light from the sleeping sun. There was the occasional owl hoot, or a gentle breeze, but nothing else really seemed to move. Or did it? Something moved down in the bushes, making faint rustling sounds. Rustling wouldn't usually wake up sleepers, but Canismon has really good hearing, doesn't he?

And not a second too soon the canine Digimon was snapped out of his drowsy state, and was keenly staring at the ground from the window in the loft. Three Woodmon sneaked - well, sort of sneaked - out from the bushes. One of them was larger, and had a gouged-out scar running down his side. His two partners seemed uneasy, but followed close behind.

Canismon's black-rimmed blue eyes narrowed, and he leaped down from the window. He couldn't land on his feet, but he rolled over once and stood, unharmed. He bared his teeth and confronted the slightly startled Woodmon.

"Who do you think you are and what is your purpose sneaking about at this hour?"

"Oh because you have a clock to know what time it is, for all you know it's still early." One of the Woodmon snapped back, throwing the white dog a smirk.

In return the walking tree got a nice big stone smashing off part of it's head. "I don't have time for stupidity... Just answer me."

The larger Woodmon took a step forward. "First off, don't be treating my comrades that way. Second of all, what we're up to is irrelevant to you because you're just going to step aside and let us go about our business."

Canismon growled lightly. "Some nerve... I'm not allowing you...to take a single step further...until you tell me why you're still in my face."

The third Woodmon spoke up this time, "Whatever we're here for ain't for you to know, for sure. We already know our master doesn't like you."

In response, Canismon's pupils dilated slightly. "Master..." He quickly got to his feet and howled. Really, really loudly. Definitely loud enough to awaken his sleeping team. But the howl was cut off when the largest of the Woodmon smacked him into the barn wall. A high-pitched whimper was mixed in with the resonating thump.

Audrey was the first one out, bursting through the doors. Guess he really wasn't sleeping as soundly as he appeared to have been. He stopped in his tracks when he noticed the three leafless trees outside. The other three Digimon arrived right after him. Nathan ran out, and noticed his partner crumpled up by the wall. Gin and Zuru jogged out, their eyes still full of sleep.

"Canismon! Come on man, are you okay?" Nathan lifted the dog's long red ears, and strained to find signs of life.

The white dog stirred, and his eyes eased open. "We have to...destroy them." His pupils were unfocused, but the panic in them was visible.

"I think we could've guessed that much." Kotamon had her claws tensed and ready.

Lutramon tripped slightly when she stepped forward, her feet still not completely awake. "Let me guess, they were sent here?"

"Well that seems only a little obvious." Seemingly knocked from his grudge, Ospreymon stood at Audrey's side.

Canismon pulled himself up, gently shook his ears from Nathan's grasp, and the boy's hands dropped to his sides. "They were...sneaking around in the bushes. Probably planning a sneak attack of some sort..."

Zuru frowned. "Who would've thought something that ugly could come up with a vaguely intelligent idea like that." She then smiled.

The three Woodmon were clearly offended. The largest one flung a thick splinter at the red-haired girl, but it was frozen in place and fell to the ground.

The remaining ice crystals fell from Kotamon's paw. "Don't provoke them!"

"Seems like they're already provoked..." Gin muttered.

Nathan stood up. "Gin's right. We've got no choice now..."

His partner was already on his feet. The other Digimon had been ready the whole time.

"You sure don't!" One of the Woodmon commented. "So just surrender and it'll make this easier..."

Ospreymon snorted loudly. "Good luck. Lightning Typhoon!" His giant tornado of electricity spiralled up and forwards.

"Summon Stone!"

"Glacial Arrow!"

"Marine Crash!"

The scalding water hit first, softening and burning their wooden bodies. Then the high-voltage twister sent pain coursing through them. Kotamon's nitrogen-like arrows froze them in place, and the great stone spikes knocked them into the air, setting them down painfully.

Of course, it all seemed to have worked for a few seconds, as the four teenagers let a feeling of success sink in. But sure enough, the three Woodmon crawled to their feet, more angry than ever.

They raised their spiked arms in unison. "WOODY SMASH!" Great, sharp splinters shot forwards like a barrage of high-speed shrapnel. The Digimon did the best that they could to stop the shards from hitting their partners, but they were terribly damaged in the process. One of the splinters passed through and cut a little part of Nathan's cheek.

"Owwww. Canismon! You have to...oh, what was it called..." The boy messed up his hair in thought. "Digivolve! You've got to Digivolve again!"

The white dog opened his eyes, and struggled to his feet. "I can't Nathan...not only have I used up...most of my energy on it last time...but that time you were in danger...and that must have...triggered it..."

Nathan pointed to his cheek with a pouty face. "And you don't call this being in danger?"

Kotamon sighed. "You know what he means, kid..."

Audrey, who had been so quiet the entire time, stood up. His amber eyes were set in a frown, and he was staring at the Woodmon.

"In danger..." He quietly muttered.

"Oh God. Audrey, don't be a dumbass." Ospreymon smacked his own forehead with his wing.

Gin stared at the teen in shock. "Oh no, don't do it..."

The white-haired boy tilted his head to the side to throw Gin a glance, smiled, then looked back at the angry yet slightly confused tree Digimon.

"He's a madman." Zuru simply stated.


	3. Gavindramon's Thunder Rings

**Author's Note:** Okay it's been like over a YEAR since the last chapter and I'm sorry TT;;; This one's a little shorter than the previous two (I think?), but it's not by much. Also I've failed miserably at directing people to the Digimon VIRAL website, so I'll say now, the link is in my profile, can't miss it xx;;;

**Disclaimer:** Don't own the concept of Digimon, or Woodmon. Though all the other characters belong to me! Don't steal, I've already had it happen once o-;

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**Digimon VIRAL  
Episode Three  
Gavindramon's Thunder Rings**

The white-haired boy stood with his arms crossed over his chest, staring down the triple-threat of the Woodmon. His partner, Ospreymon, half sat, half lay a few meters behind him, staring at the kid as if he were about to jump off a cliff. By now the three Woodmon had come to the decision that this would be an easy, willing target, and each stared at him with their hollow blue eyes. Nathan took his sleeve away from his cheek and stalked forward towards Audrey.

"Listen, this is no time to try being a hero, Aud-"

He had stuck out an arm to stop Nathan, who vaguely bounced off when his chest connected with the other boy's elbow. Audrey looked at him out of the corner of his eye, letting a weak smile slide over his face. "If this fails miserably and I die, tell your dad to tell my parents that I'm sorry."

Gin was close to smacking her forehead with her palm. "Enough with the drama, please..."

"Yeah, let's get this _over with_!" One of the Woodmon jeered, leaping forwards and pulling his branches back for an attack, "Branch Drain!"

Audrey pushed Nathan out of the way, taking a hit to the shoulder. Luckily it wasn't a lingering hit, and the moving tree didn't have a chance to drain his energy.

"Audrey!" Ospreymon swiftly peeled himself off of the floor, managing to catch his partner with his feathery bulk before he could hit the solid ground. "Damnit..."

The trees laughed in unison, preparing for another attack.

"I hope he's alright, I hope he's alright, I hope he's alriiight..." Lutramon was on her haunches, nibbling at her front paws nervously.

The white-haired boy got up off his Digimon, seemingly unfazed but really hiding the fact that his shoulder was now throbbing. "You three aren't trees, you're barely _twigs_. It must be so easy to just snap each of you in half." It was evident now that he would not stop winding them up. This was a kamikaze move.

"_What?_ You filthy human being, you _dare_ come over here and insult powerful creatures like us? Che!" The other two Woodmon were backing their comrade up, spewing various profanities. "Now, BRANCH DRAIN!" Three pairs of jagged wooden arms stretched out straight at Audrey, each aimed in a way that at least one pair would land a direct hit.

"Ospreymon!" Audrey held his Digivice out infront of him, as by now it had begun to leak out a black 'light'. It was just like the time Canismon evolved, the light expanding and engulfing the boy's partner.

"OSPREYMON SHINKA..."

The bird Digimon grew in size, his wings expanding and losing their claws. His tail elongated, the orange feathers becoming a arrowhead-tipped whip. He gained a pair of tyrannosaurus-rex-like arms, and his spine was now lined with spikes. Overall his appearance became feral, as even his beak had gained sharp teeth.

"GAVINDRAMON!"

The great pair of wings smacked the branches away, lifting the large bird Digimon off the ground. Threads of electricity began to move through the green feathers covering his bulk, and he let out a loud screech before diving towards the threesome.

"AHA! You idiots think _you're_ powerful? DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH! THUNDER RINGS!" Gavindramon opened his beak to spew forth three electrified rings, which crackled and wrapped themselves around the three Woodmon, sending their voltage into their bodies before fading away. The trio writhed and screamed, but refused to let the giant bird win, and leaped onto his bulk as he swooped down.

"You shouldn't get so cocky, you filthy bird. We've got the upper hand here. ROOT SNARE!" The feet of the Woodmon suddenly sprouted roots, which moved quickly to wrap around Gavindramon. They tangled around his limbs, and begand to move down his wings, to pull them in and smash the Digimon into the ground.

"This isn't...good. That's unnatural behaviour...for Woodmon. It's just like the Kiwimon...I fought." Canismon was watching the fight with a frown, suddenly worried for his comrade.

Audrey was mumbling to himself. "Come on Gavindramon, resist..." His eyes were wide, he hadn't actually expected his plan to work. But now his partner had evolved into something massive, and he was finding it difficult to believe that he was still inable to completely own the Woodmon.

"Idiots." Gavindramon was thrashing through the air, trying to shake off the three, but coming to realize that the roots were sapping at his strength.

"Ohoooo, see?" One of the smaller Woodmon piped up. "You're getting weaker. This battle is ours, you pile of feathers."

Gavindramon snapped his neck around, delivering a glare of pure loathing. "Total idiots." He ruffled his own feathers, spreading his wings out as far as they could go. "Electric Radiance!" The electricity that had been moving through his feathers suddenly surged, catching the Woodmon and their roots off guard. Immediately they were forced to let go, screeching as they were blasted off of the giant bird.

"Ohhh! He did it! He shook them off!" Gin watched the trio plummet to the ground with a sense of satisfaction. But these things were pretty stubborn.

"ROOT! SNARE!" Their recovery time was unnaturally quick, and now they sent their roots through the ground, giving up on the giant raptor overhead and aiming for the remainder of the group.

Nathan was watching the cracks appear in the ground as the roots moved closer and closer. "Guys...I think we better run."

"Agreed." Zuru grabbed Kotamon's paw, pulling her up off the ground. The team risked a glance at the oncoming threat, before turning right around and running.

"Oh that's low, attacking the ones not even in this fight." Gavindramon adjusted his wing feathers, turning around and down towards the ever-expanding cracks in the earth. "Thunder Rings!" The same electrified circles rose from his throat, hitting the cracks. The voltage grounded itself, vanishing into the earth, but catching the roots in the process. The surge travelled along the roots, frying them in the process, and eventually reaching the Woodmon, who were chased out of the bushes they had been hiding in. The team stopped in their tracks, turning round to see the assault was stopped.

"Arrgghhhh! Give it up bird, no matter how much you come at us, we'll recover!"

Gavindramon landed on the ground, and began walking towards the trio, his pointed tail lashing around behind him. "No matter how much I come at you, you're just stubborn wood creatures. So what if I can't shock you to death?" Thick, threatening bolts of lightning were crackling all over Gavindramon's body as he got closer and closer. The three Woodmon made to run for it, but the bird whipped that orange tail of his right around, smashing them into eachother and against the ground.

"Augh! Master isn't going to like this...!" Before they had time to roll out of the way, Gavindramon had come over, smashing the Woodmon to pieces with his beak and claws.

Audrey almost let his jaw hang open at the scene. "That's...pretty brutal." It seemed like such an unusual course of action to take, but, well, if electricity wasn't working there really wasn't much else to do.

"Stupid trees!" Gavindramon had just about reduced them to splinters, but kept on stomping. The pieces of the Woodmon burst into data fragments, each leaving behind three bronze computer chips, which were also promptly smashed by the giant Digimon.

"Ga-Gavindramon!" Audrey began tentatively walking towards his partner. "I think you can stop now, they've vanished." The bird stopped mid-stomp and turned his head to look at the boy, before flapping his wings once and making his way over.

"Wow, that was vicious." Lutramon was the first to make it all the way back. "Vicious, but effective."

"Audrey, sorry, even though it worked, why did you act like an idiot and risk your own life?" Zuru had her hands on her hips, and she was still slightly shaking.

The white-haired boy hesitated for a moment before answering. "I figured there wasn't a choice. That's all." He could see his fingers trembling a bit, though, as he lifted a hand to give Gavindramon a pat on the head.

Gin sighed to herself. She couldn't help staring at Ospreymon's new evolution, though. It must be just a matter of time, she thought to herself, that the other two Digimon would evolve as well. Hopefully none of them would have to risk their own lives like that again. "Nathan, I think someone's a little tired."

The goggle boy blinked, turning his head to his partner Digimon. A slight smile slid onto his face, Canismon had fallen asleep. He was already tired from the earlier battle, and his evolution must have been pretty taxing on his strength. "I'll let him sleep."

"Er, you guys _do_ realize the situation now, right?" Kotamon pointed a claw at the building that had been their shelter. "They know where we're hiding out now, we've got to get out of here."

"She has a point." Audrey admitted. "Gavindramon...can you get us away from here?"

The giant green predator have his partner an exasperated look. "I'm not a plane! I'm not letting THAT many snakes onto my back."

Lutramon shuffled over, smacking one of Gavindramon's legs with her tail. "Come on, suck it up. You know you're our only way out, and it'll only be for a while."

He drooped his head, tiny clawed hands twitching. "Fine, fine, fine. Just get it over with."

And one by one, the remainder of the team climbed onto Gavindramon's back, trying to figure out just how to sit down without getting an unpleasant surprise from one of the spikes along his back. Nathan had a bit of trouble pulling Canismon up with him, so the other two Rookies had to help out with the dog.

Audrey was sitting right up at the front, his arms wrapped around the bird's neck. "Are you sure you can carry all of us?"

"Yeah, _now _you have doubts." Gavindramon spread his wings, preparing to take off. "I've got like a twenty-foot wingspan. Don't worry your little head over it, kid." And with a flurry of leaves and dust the Digimon took off. Flapping his massive wings and rising over the roof of the warehouse. His passengers were very much not used to this sort of transport, and clung to his plumage. "Ugh, don't pull out my feathers."

It seemed, now, that as long as his energy wasn't drastically used in a battle, Gavindramon would hold on in this form, for quite a while longer at least. The sun was just barely clawing its way over the horizon, though the moon still persisted in the sky. The gian green raptor had settled his flapping to soaring, riding the thermal uplifts that grew stronger as the sun shone brighter. Just about all of his passengers had let sleep overtake them, and, confident that they wouldn't be sent plummeting, drifted off to clingy sleep. Audrey was the only one awake, and he idly ran his fingers through the feathers on Gavindramon's neck while watching the world straight ahead, ever moving closer and vanishing beneath the bulk of his partner Digimon.

The thought cheered him up, now. He honestly had never thought that he would end up with this many new friends in the span of a day or so. There were two or three people he would spend time with at school, but that was exclusively in said location, and they had approached him first. Somehow, he had always found it the most difficult thing to approach new people for reasons other than day-to-day talk. At work, during the summer, talking to customers, co-workers, and employers was a breeze, nothing was on a personal basis. But once Ospreymon had offered him a detour to the Digital World, he hadn't hesitated, and now didn't even regret it, regardless of how dangerous this place proved to be. For the last few years Audrey's closest friends had been a pair of albino rats that lived in a cage in his room. The moody Digimon had, after all, done him a favour by taking him away from the real world. The boy quietly sighed to himself, but this apparently caught the attention of Gavindramon, who'se voice jerked him out of his thoughts.

"I can't hold out very much longer, Aud. We'll have to land, or I'll crash. Well, more like you'll crash and I'll gracefully float down." He snuck himself a smirk, as Audrey couldn't see his beak from that angle. "You better wake the others up."

Nodding, the boy turned around, shaking the shoulder of the one closest to him. "Hey, Nathan, Gavindramon's losing power. Better wake up."

"Nghuh?" Nathan groggily lifted himself up, waking up Canismon in the process. "Oh, okay..." And with eyes still full of sleep, turned around and continued the waking chain.

By the time the whole team had awoken, the giant green bird was skimming the treetops, moving lower and lower through the sky.

"Hey, shouldn't you land? I mean... if you de-evolve now we'll hit the trees and die or something." Zuru called out to the front while retying the bow in her hair.

"Pff, no. The forest ends right up there, I can probably make it that far." The others looked forward, where the dark green trees abruptly cut off and gave way to a field of pure white.

"Probably, he says..." Canismon muttered.

"What is that up there? Snow?" Gin tried to sit up a bit higher to see, but sat right back down when the wind blew a bit harder.

Kotamon, who had her eyes locked on the field, turned to the girl. "Unfortunately _not_... You guys would be freezing your tails off by now if it was."

Nathan frowned. "But we don't have tails..."

"Ohhh, you know what I _mean..._"

Audrey smiled a little and went back to looking ahead. The forest had almost vanished, and they were so low the tree branches were reaching up at them, only to be snapped by Gavindramon's wings. The turbulence had them hold on tighter, until suddenly it stopped, and below them was a whiteness so clean that the hills and valleys carved into it were almost indistinguishable from all else. The descent now became steeper, it was obvious to them the end of the flight was fast approaching. About eight feet above the ground, without warning, the same light of evolution surrounded Gavindramon, and he shrunk down into his Rookie stage, sending the rest of the team rolling over the surface.

Each of them spent a minute or so spitting the ground out, as Ospreymon glided down and kicked around whatever was under their feet. "Sand? Completely white sand? That's pretty unusual..."

"Ahhhh, it doesn't taste like sand at all..." Lutramon was wiping her tongue with her paws.

"It... makes me thirsty." Canismon shook what he could out of his fur.

"Eugh. You guys have never had salt before?" Gin said with a grimace.

Nathan looked around him. "A desert made up entirely of salt? That's so weird it's almost gross."

Audrey, who seemed the least bothered by this, stood up. "There was probably an ocean with a high concentration of salt here, a really long time ago."

"Oh, attractive _and_ smart. What else is there we don't know of?" It was a casual remark from Zuru, but the white haired boy still turned around and said nothing.

Nathan frowned a little. "I think you embarrased him."

"I was just fooling around, geeze." Zuru smiled nervously.

Gin laughed. "Come on guys. We've got a lot of walking to do."

"Isn't there a shortcut or _something_?" Kotamon whined. There was a stretch of blue at the horizon, but it seemed so far away from their current, whited out position.

"Plus, with there being no landmarks at all, we'll prolly get lost or somethin'..." Lutramon stuck close to Gin, as if her own words had scared her.

"I don't think so." Canismon lifted his head, he had been sniffing the ground, and now showed them what he had found.

Nathan blinked through his purple hair. "Railroad tracks?"

His partner nodded. "They might not lead to the blue horizon, but they'll definitely lead somewhere." The tracks themselves were as white as the salt around them, and probably would not have been noticed had Canismon not sniffed them out.

"Well, not much for us to do but start walking!" Ospreymon finally spoke up.

"I'm not used to excercise in the morning..." Nathan quietly muttered.

Almost simultaneously, the team's eyes traced what was visible of the tracks, and followed their line as far as they could. One by one they began walking, thankful that this was nowhere near as hot as a real desert, but still disliking the sheer distance left to cross.


	4. Of Ice And Wind

**Author's Note:** Wow. As if this chapter's up so..._soon_. Well, after four hours of intense planning sessions with my best bud, Digimon VIRAL's going to be SO awesome once everything sets in motion ;;;

**Disclaimer:** Don't own concept, or Apemon. However everyone else, and all of DV is miiiineeeee

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**Digimon VIRAL  
Episode Four  
Of Ice And Wind**

"This is the most uncomfortable walk I've ever been on..."

"Ugh, why couldn't this be _snow_?"

"It's gettin' in my eyes, it's gettin' in my eeeyeeesss..."

One by one the team took turns complaining about their current situation. It seemed like hours had passed, completely uneventfully as they trudged by the tracks, over the great field of pure white salt. The sun had finished rising now, and it was unfortunately clear that the temperature was not going to stay at a comfortable level. The two Digimon that could do anything to help, did. Every-so-often Kotamon would freeze a patch of the salt, or Lutramon would fire water into the air and let it fall like a quick rain. But this was only a temporary solution, as neither of them could constantly use energy in a situation like this. The blue horizon was ever so slowly creeping closer, so they could at least find solace in the fact that it wasn't an illusion, and that they were indeed making some progress. It was extremely rare for them to find any other signs of life, other than the occasional Digimon flying far overhead.

"Sometimes I just want to call up to whatever's flying up there and ask if they know a better way through here..." Gin muttered.

Lutramon looked up at her, "I don' think we have a choice other than walkin'..."

"Ospreymon, you get up there...and scout." Canismon ordered his comrade, a little too tired to even turn his head towards him.

"No."

"...Why not?"

"Can't be bothered. Plus I'm waaay too tired."

The dog just grunted in response. It was almost a hundred percent chance, though, that Ospreymon wouldn't find much other than whiteness, the forest behind, and the blue horizon. They continued to walk on in silence, as another two Digimon flew overhead.

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"Ooh! Ooh! There they are! I can see 'em, I can see 'em!" One of the flying Digimon called out to her partner.

"Nn." The bat-like creature responded.

"Ohhh have some energy Zotzmon, we both know it's good news that we've found them!" Her transparent wings were flapping faster with excitement.

"Hmm."

"...Don't make me hit you."

"Oh just shut up, Muzenmon."

The two flew in a straight line, not lingering over the salt desert lest they attract the attention of the Chosen Children. Muzenmon, the far more talkative one, was a bee Digimon. Her head elongated back into long fur, and the tips of her antennae were attached to balls of fluff. The same fluff encircled her neck, waist and stinger, as well as her limb sockets. It was impossible to see at this moment, but when her wings were still, one could see that the ridges of them were ruffled. Zotzmon, one who considered silence to be something excellent, looked like a long furred, tired bat. His neck and waist were wrapped up by thick belts with large studs. His wings and feet had two claws each, and the wing membrane was a creamy yellow, a big contrast to the dark, dusty purple of his fur. To top it all off, his tail was something like a rabbit's, round and soft.

"Well, you don't have to be so rude about it, humph." Muzenmon rolled her eyes in annoyance, then took another look at the tiny specks far below her. "Ohhh, but I can't believe that with all those other stupid cronies dispatched, _we_ were the ones to find them!" The bee laughed happily, flying around in cartwheels.

"Stop that at _once_. The last thing we want is for them to get curious and send that bird of theirs up here."

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"Haha, hey look! One of them's rolling around!" Nathan had his head tilted towards the sky, still keeping pace. As walking was extremely boring, whatever flew overhead was almost always stared at.

"Maybe it's some sort of Digimon mating ritual?" Gin laughed at her own suggestion.

"What? I'm _there!_" Ospreymon flapped his wings once, picking up off the ground.

"NO YOU'RE NOT." In unison, Lutramon and Kotamon tacked him into the salt, keeping his struggling form from becoming airborne.

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"Oh don't worry your pretty little head about it, Zotzmon" Muzenmon returned to flying in a straight line. "Besides, if anything, we just take off and he'll never catch us with this much of a head start on our side."

"Hmph."

"Mrrr...well, it's about time we get back to Nagamon. I'm sure this is a report that he's been anticipating."

"Just no more cartwheels."

Muzenmon laughed at her partner, for a very long time on the flight back, until she received a well-deserved smack over the head and remained silent for the remainder of the journey.

--------------------------------------------

Gin and Zuru sighed in unison. While Gin was athletic enough to stand the walking, she hated the ever-increasing heat, and the situation was reversed for Zuru.

"This wouldn't be so bad if it was more eventful..." the black-haired girl muttered, flapping the front of her hoodie in an attempt to cool down.

"Careful Gin, you don' want to jinx it." Lutramon piped up.

Canismon's ears pricked up and he turned to look at the others, "I think...she already has."

And with those few words, the salt a few meters away began to rise and stir. Within seconds, it fell back towards the ground, revealing a hairy yellow primate, with slate-colored skin and a large bone strapped to its back.

"Apemon!" Kotamon remarked. "Damnit, they just won't leave us _alone_ now!"

The new Digimon let out a loud yowl, baring his long fangs and moving his limbs into a fighting stance.

Ospreymon sent it a look, "Well at least this one knows when to verbally shut up."

Kotamon pulled her paws apart, forming a few arrows, "Unlike _you_."

"Hey! That was-"

"Not important! Time to fight!" Canismon cut off the bird, leaping onto him and then straight off, his paws beginning to glow a red color. "Landmine!" He ran around the Apemon, while Kotamon called out her attack and shot the arrows, but the primate dodged the ice and aimed a kick, hitting Canismon in the stomach and knocking him away.

"Canismon!" Nathan called out, running to the side and leaping to catch his falling partner, "Oh man, you've been getting all the beatings lately!"

"It wouldn't be so bad if we would have more time to recover..." Zuru was tending to an injured Kotamon, who was knocked away right after Canismon.

Ospreymon peeled his face out of the salty ground, shaking it a few times. "Lutramon, looks like it's our turn." He spread his wings and flew a few feet into the sky.

"Right on!" The otter opened her mouth, tentacle-hair rising. "Marine Crash!" Her attack left Apemon soaked in scalding water, and also rather infuriated.

"Lightning Typhoon!" A twister of electricity streaked towards the primate, shocking it and preventing it from moving closer.

"Time to get physical! Aqua Twister!" Lutramon spiraled forward, ready to cause some damage.

"HRROAARGGHHH! BONE ROD!" With a well-aimed smack the Apemon knocked Lutramon out of the way like a hairy baseball, and without missing a beat smashed the bone into Ospreymon, who was on his way in for an Electrical Outlet attack.

"Lutramon! Oh god, please be okay!" Gin ran over to her partner, lifting her head up with her hands. She calmed down a little when Lutramon let out a little sound, signaling she was still alive.

"Ospreymon...!" Audrey had caught his partner, but was knocked back from his weight.

"Thanks Aud... I'll be okay, but I think we should get out of here."

"He's right..." Canismon was on his feet again. "Both Ospreymon and I are too tired to even try to Evolve. Out best bet is to try to... outrun it as best we can..."

Nathan stared at his partner. "You've gotta be kidding me. There's no way we can outrun that thing."

"But we can damn well try...!" Gin called out, as she ran past with Lutramon on her back.

"Right!" Zuru climbed to her feet and followed, with Kotamon and the rest of the team in tow.

"Hruh?" The Apemon looked at his retreating opponents in disbelief. He blinked a few times, before realizing the ones he was supposed to destroy were getting away. Angrily he let out a growling roar and stomped up and down, waving his bone in fury. He swung the thing backwards and forwards and took chase, slowly gaining on the eight.

"We can't keep this up, he'll catch us." Audrey bluntly stated. His good running ability had carried him to the front, but even he couldn't outrun a rampaging Apemon.

"Oh shi-!"

Kotamon turned to find her partner face first in the salt, and immediately stopped and ran back. "Zuru!"

"Aughhh..." The chestnut-haired girl pulled herself up. "I'm okay. I think. The tracks tripped me." She looked up at the rest of the team, who had also stopped running and were now heading back. "No! Keep running, don't come back!"

"Come on!" Kotamon grabbed her partner around the waist and hoisted her up, ready to continue running. With the distraction neither of them had noticed just how close Apemon had gotten, until his bestial cackling was right behind them. He stretched out a slate-skinned claw and grabbed Zuru's foot, throwing her backwards into the salt, and taking a swing at Kotamon with the other, bone-equipped hand.

"Kotamon!" Zuru called out, spitting out the salt that got in her mouth as she called out. The primate had struck Kotamon over the shoulders with his bone, and the others had just gotten all the way back, but were forced to keep their distance. "Damnit, leave her alone!" This time, it was Zuru's Digivice that began to glow, and its bright green light caught the Apemon's attention.

The blue feline clawed her way to her feet, and began running at the primate, who had once again switched targets. "Oh no you _don't_! KOTAMON EVOLVE..."

The first thing to change was her tail, which split into four and each one became covered with storm clouds. Her size and posture became a lot more lumbering, and while the claws on her paws elongated, some of her bandannas vanished. White fur sprouted over her muzzle, and the fur around her neck became thicker and trailed down her back. A purple wind chime hung from her neck, and a heavy yellow sack was slung over her shoulders.

"FUURINMON!"

Apemon's giant bone collided with a clawed paw, and his pissed off expression switched into one of surprise. The bone was then smacked away, and sent flying off into the salt.

"You just _lost_." Without giving him time to react, Fuurinmon whipped her tails around, knocking the yellow Digimon off-balance and away. "Compass Star _Tornado!_" Her tails thrashed and then stiffened, each pointing into what one could assume were north, south, east and west. The storm clouds kicked up and she pointed the mouth of the sack at Apemon, where upon opening it shot out half a dozen spinning, silver winds which collided in a cloud of salt. Once it cleared, the others saw the Apemon half frozen.

"Fuu...rinmon...!" Zuru stared at her newly Evolved partner.

A loud howl rose from Apemon's mouth, as he struggled to free himself from the ice that bound him. "GRRRRR, BONE SHOWER!" He stuck his arms out and the previously knocked away bone flew back into his grasp. He smashed the bone into tiny fragments with his own claws. The fragments began to glow, and shot out like a rain of needles, aimed at just about everyone.

"Not so fast..." Fuurinmon opened the mouth of the bag once again, and controlled the wind to make it slice through the bone pieces, tearing them apart in mid-air. "All of you come attack and completely _underestimate_ us. Well I think..." A circle of wind began swirling around Fuurinmon. "You should all..." The winds grew higher, spinning faster. "_Go to HELL!_ ICE BARRIER!" The circle broke and the wind travelled towards the Apemon, freezing along the way. The spikes of ice were higher as it moved forwards, and try as he might Apemon was unable to free himself from the ice of the previous attack. With a final howl of protest from the primate, the ice spikes shot through and past him, finally stopping a little ways into the distance. His frozen form burst into fragments of data, as the ice shattered from the shock. A small computer chip was left in his place, but was quickly destroyed by a shard of ice that landed right in the center of it.

"Well well, not too shabby!" Ospreymon flew over first, with a whistle. "Hell, I'd hit it." His little remark earned him a swift smack down by one of Fuurinmon's tails, exasperated and annoyed expressions from the girls, a face-palm from Nathan, and a slightly confused blink from Audrey. Canismon seemed indifferent.

"Nice timing, Kots!" Gin turned back to the large blue cat, and smiled.

Zuru walked up from behind her partner, running her hand down the long fur around her neck. "Whoa... Thanks. You pretty much saved me."

"Well this time it was a little different, Kotamon was the one in immediate danger." Nathan pointed out, a slightly thoughtful expression on his face.

"And I think I've figured something else out..." Audrey half-mumbled.

"Whassat?" Lutramon looked up at the boy.

"You mentioned in our first battle, with the Hydramon, that one of their attacks was unnatural. During the last three fights, based on your reactions, there were the same situations." He turned to look at the now melting pile of ice shards. "I have a feeling... that those computer chips have something to do with those weird attacks. Plus they all seem to be following a master of some sort, so maybe he or she is the one responsible for the chips? Or maybe it's something else, I..." He cut himself short and looked at the others, who were all staring at him. He blushed a little and mumbled the rest of his speech. "I don't...know. Er, sorry, I got a little...carried away..."

"Wow. That was the most I've heard you say like...ever." Nathan remarked.

"Heh, Zuru was right, you _are_ smart." said Gin, smiling.

Audrey turned away.

"In any case..." Canismon began. "Audrey's probably right. I'd been...getting a sneaking suspicion about the chips...but he nailed it. Unfortunately...there isn't much we can do...about them, until...we get to the source of the matter."

Zuru nodded. "Which probably won't be revealed in the middle of this desert..."

Fuurinmon tilted her head to look at her partner, readjusting the bag of endless wind on her back. "I think I might know a faster way through here, but I'm not ecstatic about the idea of having_ all _of you on my back..."

"Hey, I did it. It's only fair." Ospreymon had crawled back, just to have some input in the conversation.

"You know a way? Oh pleeease Fuurinmon! You know how much we can't stand this" Zuru gave her Digimon partner the best pleading expression she could muster.

"Oh all right, all right. Just _don't_ touch my storm clouds." She responded, twitching her four tails away from the others.

Careful to follow that remark, the others climbed onto Fuurinmon's back, finding it a little less roomy than Gavindramon's. Once they were assembled, Fuurinmon walked over to the tracks, standing right over them.

"Now you don't have to worry about the salt, the wind will keep it away from you. And this isn't exactly going to be as fast as flying, so no _complaining_." With that, Fuurinmon tucked her tails underneath her, and opened up the yellow sack once more. Instead of releasing a slicing wind, the zephyr mingled with the storm clouds, lifting Fuurinmon a few inches off of the ground. The salt underneath her bulk was sent flying out, but whatever threatened to fly at the team was blown away. Slowly at first, the large blue Digimon began to float forwards, but she picked up speed until she was steadily moving, faster than the speed the team could run at.

"Whoa, Fuurinmon, this is pretty cool!" Lutramon called out from the back, part of her voice carried away by the wind.

"We'll hit the blue horizon in no time." Zuru said to no one in particular.

--------------------------------------------

"Any news?" A silky voice carried itself out of the shadows.

"Nagamon, sir, we have located the Chosen Children and their Digimon partners." Zotzmon spoke into the darkness, bowing a little on one knee.

"They were in the middle of the Saline Desert, sir. They should have been intercepted by Apemon by now." Muzenmon was bowing lower, though smiling a little.

"Hmm, Apemon had, however, failed..." A glowing screen in the dark room showed the two Rookies a computer chip, identical to the one Apemon had used, but it was signaling a disconnection with the server. "It is likely one of the Digimon evolved to defeat him..."

A moment's silence from the two smaller Digimon, until Zotzmon spoke. "Our deepest apologies sir, had we remained behind we could have aided Apemon."

"No, no... For now, it's best they don't see who you are. After all..." Nagamon shifted, the side of his angular face faintly illuminated by the glow of the screen, and his lime green eyes shining from the shadows. "We've still got a plan to set in motion..."

The dark room's walls bounced around the sound of laughter, the quiet, deep voices of Nagamon and Zotzmon, and Muzenmon's shrill cackles.


	5. Queen of the Seas, Neptumon!

**Author's Note:** Well, here's chapter 5:D Obviously, this chapter's got Lutramon's evolution. And after this, since everyone has gotten to evolve, the action can _really_ get under way!

**Disclaimer: **Don't own Digimon, or the concept. All characters are mine though, with the exception of Airdramon.

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**

**Digimon Viral  
Chapter Five  
Queen of the Seas, Neptumon!**

Fuurinmon's winds were carrying them at a steady pace, and the blue horizon was moving ever closer. The closer they moved towards it the higher it seemed to grow, and even from their distance it sparkled in the bright sunlight.

"Wow, it looks like the ocean!" Gin happily called out, shielding her eyes from the sun with her hands.

Nathan grinned. "Finally, we'll get a chance to cool off. Maybe there'll be food there too! I'm starving!"

"I think we all are," Audrey agreed, glancing at the group.

"Then let's pick up speed, Fuurinmon!" Zuru laughed, patting her Digimon on the head.

"Alright, alright." With a sudden burst of wind, Fuurinmon shot towards the horizon, each member of the team watching it, transfixed. As they got closer and the height of the horizon just kept rising, the blue Digimon realized that there was something not quite right about what they were approaching. "Guys, this isn't the _ocean_, and I can't brake in time!" What they thought was the ocean loomed overhead and at the last second Fuurinmon swerved to the side, managing to slow down as she skimmed the side of the obstacle.

"What the? It's not…water?" Lutramon leaped off of Fuurinmon, waddling over to it.

Ospreymon flew a few feet into the air. "It's…a really, really long wall. The hell?"

"Thing is…" Audrey started. "It looks like it's made of sapphires."

"They're…inscribed with Digicode, too." Canismon was running his paws over the deep engravings over the side of the wall. "But it's…ancient though, I can't make sense of it…"

"Well, so much for this being the ocean…" Gin muttered to herself. "And cooling off. And food."

"Don't say that, you're making me even hungrier… Hey, I'm sure we'll find something soon. But what's a sapphire wall doing in the middle of a desert?" Nathan rubbed the back of his head with his hand. "And on that note, how do we get around, or over it?"

Lutramon lifted her head to look at the high walls. "We should see what's over it first. Ospreymon, you should get flyin'."

"Noooo way. It's way too high, and I'm way too tired to fly to that sort of height,"

The others sighed.

"Well then let's just go around it." Nathan suggested.

"No way. We've been walking forever, we're tired, and we're hungry. Besides, it looks like it stretches on for eternity…" Zuru responded with a sigh.

"Would everyone please stop mentioning food? It's making it worse!"

Gin blinked, "Then why not go over?"

Audrey walked over to the wall, and sat down against it. Looking up, he almost couldn't see the top of the wall, and the sides vanished almost immediately as the wall curved away from them. "Ospreymon's too tired to go over. How else would we do so?"

"I'd climb." Gin said with a smile.

"No way, it's _way_ too dangerous."

"It'd be easy. All these inscriptions would make great handholds."

"But it's so high; the winds would knock you right off."

"Not if Fuurinmon kept them in check. Right?"

The feline Digimon nodded her head. "I could give you a bit of a boost at the beginning too."

"No, no, no. Gin, what if you fall off?" Lutramon looked at her partner, worried.

"Plus, Fuurinmon's probably exhausted from everything that's happened so far. What if she were to de-Evolve partway through, then what?" Zuru added.

"It's way too dangerous, you can't do it." Audrey finished.

Gin put her hands on her hips. "Do you have any better ideas?"

Everyone went silent as each did their best to try to think of an alternate solution. Finally, Nathan spoke up:

"I guess we really don't have any other choice. I mean, as much as I don't like the idea of sending someone way up there, it's more likely to succeed than all of us walking even _more_…" He nodded wisely. "Then I guess it's up to me!" And headed for the wall.

"What? No it's not!" Gin squawked. "Have you ever climbed anything even remotely like this?"

"Well, there was this really high ladder one time…"

Silence.

"…I'm going. I'm a better climber than you, I have more experience, and I'm the most likely to get to the top." Gin argued.

"Listen to her, Nathan. She's right." Zuru spoke up, walking over and placing her hand on his shoulder to stop him. "I think." She then added under her breath.

"Alright then." Gin turned around to face the wall, only to find Audrey standing in her way. "Oh come off it Aud, we all know I have to do it."

"Well, just be careful."

"Wait, Gin, are you totally sure you want to do this?" Lutramon tugged at the bottom of her partner's shirt. "I would never forgive m'self if somethin' happened to you!"

Gin leaned down and smiled at the Digimon. "I'll be fine. Besides, Fuurinmon'll take care of me. I hope."

"_Duh_." Fuurinmon added.

So with one decisive step Gin placed her hands against the wall, and was pushed up a few feet by the wind, where her feet found a foothold in a line of engravings. In what seemed to take a painfully long time, she began lifting her hands and grasping more symbols, pulling herself up ever so slowly.

As she began to climb, and get further and further from the ground, she began to realize just what she had gotten herself into. This was nothing like the rock climbing she did back on earth, where there was safety equipment and she was being safely held up by ropes. There wasn't even any padding on the ground should she fall, just grainy, white salt. As she climbed higher, the winds began to get stronger, and slightly dangerous.

She tried her best to keep herself from looking down, and whatever her teammates may have been yelling up at her was blocked off from her ears by the constantly-blowing winds. Soon the winds became too strong and she couldn't get any higher. She was frozen, terrified with the realization that she was trapped on this shining wall. Suddenly the winds shifted away from her, and she knew Fuurinmon had noticed her dilemma. With a grateful sigh she grabbed hold of the next engraving.

From the ground below, the kids had fallen silent at the sign of her struggling.

"I knew we shouldn't 'a let her go up there." Lutramon whispered.

"Hell, I don't think any of you four should've gone up there." Ospreymon contributed, watching the girl climb with his head propped up on his wing.

Then, in the silence, they heard a strange sound.

"That sounds like…wings?" Zuru turned her head to both sides, trying to locate the source of the sound.

Canismon growled, pinpointing the source almost immediately. "Great…Just what we need… More trouble."

And he was right, for flying towards them from far off in the distance was a snakelike Digimon none of them wanted to see. Its tattered red wings carried it through the sky, while it shrieked at them through its dragon like mouth, protected by an antlered skull.

"Oh nooo, not Airdramon!" Lutramon called out, panicked.

"This isn't good! We've got to get Gin down from there!" Nathan called out.

Before any of them had a chance to react, the Airdramon was already above them, laughing.

"Don't worry; I'll take _care_ of it." Fuurinmon turned, hoping Gin could at least hold on tightly to the wall as she took care of the flying serpent. It soared down, grinning evilly at its prey. Fuurinmon's tails prepared to separate into a compass star, when her limit decided it had been stretched too far, and she reverted back into an extremely exhausted Kotamon.

"What? No! This is _not_ good!" Zuru called out. She wanted to run at her partner but the Airdramon was getting close. In a huge stroke of luck it had aimed too high and swooped over the kids and Digimon, blowing salt around in the process.

Lutramon lifted her head, and with a worried expression she looked up at her partner. "We've gotta find a way to get Gin down safely!"

"There isn't much we can do… We just have to…hope she can hold on." Canismon lifted his paws. "Summon Stone!" Jagged rocks shot up from the ground, but his attack was rendered useless as Airdramon weaved around each one and flew upwards to avoid the rest.

"Sorry Cane, flyers are not your forte." Ospreymon crossed his wings over his front. "Lightning Typhoon!" His small twister of electricity streaked towards Airdramon, but was easily deflected with his skull helmet. "Damnit!"

"Alright, my turn then! Marine Crash!" Lutramon shot a beam of scalding water at the serpent, only to have it miss by a mile as it flew in a completely different direction. "…Well, that failed."

"Guys! The Airdramon's heading straight for Gin!"

Lutramon whipped around. "No! We've gotta save her!"

"There's nothing we can do except try and catch her if she falls."

The black-haired girl stared wide-eyed at the flying serpent, digging her fingers as deep as she could into the inscriptions. But, as expected, a gust of wind was easing her away from the sapphire face of the wall. In a most unfortunate turn of events, the Airdramon circled back, hitting Gin with one of its wings and took a sharp turn downwards to taunt the rest of the team.

"No! GIN!" Lutramon rolled out from under the flapping Digimon and nervously watched her partner as each of her fingers slipped from the inscriptions, her arms wheeling backwards, her feet slipping without so much as a crumb of debris, and her body falling backwards in what looked like slow motion.

The otter Digimon reached up with her scrawny paws but there was nothing she could do, until Gin's Digivice began to spout forth a bright blue light. This was it!

"Lutramon EVOLVE…"

The little otter multiplied many times in size, becoming larger than any of the other Digimon's Champion stages. Red horns sprouted from her hat and her back fin morphed into a pair of small finned wings. Her arms elongated, as did her claws, and they too grew fin membranes in between them. Her tail grew longer, and much of her fur grew longer.

"NEPTUMON!"

Her large bulk took a surprisingly short time to move under Gin, and the girl fell onto the turquoise fur along her Digimon's back, rolling down and safely onto the salt.

"Wow, Lutra- err- Neptumon… thanks!" She shook her head to get rid of the salt, but the screech of the Airdramon caught her attention and she whipped around. "That's right, what're we going to do about him?"

"Leave it t'me!" Neptumon flexed her claws, charging towards the opposing Digimon. She took a swipe at it but it dodged. Her tail whipped around to smack it, but she only landed a weak hit, as it was flying further away now, laughing.

"It's almost useless, whatever we throw at it, it dodges." Audrey pointed out.

"Tha's what you think. Sonar Undertow!" The giant otter beast opened her mouth, and what sounded like echolocation came from her throat. The sound waves reached Airdramon's ears, and try as he might, he couldn't stop his body from moving back towards the team. It was like an undertow was in the air and the currents were pulling him in.

"No way! GOD TORNADO!" Opening his skull-covered jaws to their widest, Airdramon shot forth a fat, twisting wind that blasted the team backwards. Neptumon was left standing.

"Yer kiddin' right? This ain't gonna be that easy for yeh!" Her sonar stopped pulling him in, and instead kept the flying Digimon in place. "Tidal Whiplash!" She slashed her claws downwards, forming blades of water as they moved down, which shot forwards, straight at Airdramon.

"Not so fast… Aerial Shield!" The air in front of Airdramon seemed to solidify, and the blades simply splashed against it when they hit.

"No way… Him, too. He's got a…modified attack…" Canismon watched the battle while half-buried in salt. He hadn't bothered shaking it off after the last attack.

"No! Neptumon!" Gin watched helplessly when the flying serpent shook itself from the invisible current, and flew straight for her partner, who was definitely not fast enough to dodge a full-on attack.

"If I can't beat you with wind I'll beat you with _force_!" He opened his jaws, ready to take a huge bite out of the beast. Neptumon did her best to turn and dodge, but the Digimon was able to sink his teeth into her tail. She roared out with pain but managed to shake him off.

"Grrrr… Yer goin' to pay fer that…"

"Oh? How so? I can always… shield your… what's going… on?" The flapping wings of the Airdramon were slowly slowing down their movements, and he was bobbing up and down in the air, with a very confused expression.

Neptumon chuckled. "Sea urchin venom. The skin on my tail secretes it. You made a big mistake when you decided to get physical. TIDAL WHIPLASH!" Once again she slashed her claws, sending high-speed water blades straight forward.

"No! Aerial SHIELD!" The air began to solidify, but with Airdramon's weakened strength, it only blurred for a moment, before failing entirely. "This can't b-!" His words were cut off when the blades smashed into him, part of them hitting with blunt force while the rest sliced straight through the flying serpent.

His data particles exploded and vanished into the atmosphere, leaving behind a grey chip, just like the others. Neptumon stomped over and picked it up, snapping it in half with her claws.

"Not too shabby!" Ospreymon gave his teammate a 'thumbs' up.

"Whoaaa! Neptumon I still can't believe how much _bigger_ you are! And you're so _strong_ now!" Gin hugged the large paw of her newly-evolved partner.

Neptumon smiled. "Please, don' mention th'size… it's kinda… uncomfortable."

"Now," Nathan grinned, "if only you were tall enough to reach over that wall!"

"What'd I jus' say about th'size…?" The beast sighed.

"He does kind of have a point though. She saved you, and us, and that's really great. But we're still at the same point as we were before the battle…" Zuru mused.

Gin sat down, defeated. "That's true…"

"Hey look! There they are! They've already made it to the wall!" Muzenmon rubbed her hands together in excitement.

"Mmm, not bad. They must have used the evolution that killed Apemon to speed up their travel." Zotzmon was surprised at the Chosen Children's innovation, but didn't act like it.

"Come on, come on! Let's follow up on Nagamon's orders. This is going to be _fun_!"

"Nn."

"Let's dig under it! How about it, Canismon?" Nathan grinned at his partner.

Canismon sent him a pitying expression. "Knowing what I know about the past… when they built walls this high and this long… the foundation's bound to be just as impenetrable... In other words… no way.

"Having a little trouble, I see?" The team was distracted from their attempted planning by two Rookie-stage Digimon who had just flown over.

"You know, when there's something this big in your way, there's only one way to fix the problem…"

Muzenmon and Zotzmon smiled with their best fake smiles at the Chosen Children, who stared at them with confusion.


	6. The Sapphire Temple

**Author's Note: **Heeey, finally up! This one's longer than they usually are, I got carried away and couldn't find a way to wrap up faster ;; There's a lot of stuff explained, and a bunch of new information.

**Disclaimer:** Digimon+original concept are, of course, not mine. However, all the Digimon and characters in this chapter, as well as the DV plot, are miiiine. :D

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**Digimon Viral  
Chapter Six  
The Sapphire Temple**

"Who _are_ you two?" Kotamon stared at each in turn, the bat and the bee.

"And where did you come from, at that?" Zuru joined her partner in questioning.

"Well," the bee smiled, "I'm Muzenmon."

"Zotzmon."

"And we're not from anywhere in particular, really, though we often fly around these walls, hoping that at some point a door or other entryway will just show up…" She wove together lies which were only slightly pre-rehearsed, doing her best to sound convincing.

"Why though? What's on the other side?" Gin inquired.

"It's a long story, and it doesn't really concern you…" Zotzmon trailed off.

"It does too concern us." Nathan frowned. "We're kind of in the same situation here, we've got nowhere else to go except over that wall."

"Well, if you're that willing." Muzenmon stilled her wings and landed on the ground. "Like we said, there's only one way to fix a problem like this…"

"The wall is too high, too long, and too deep into the ground…" Zotzmon continued.

"Thus, of course, the only way for you to get through is just like that: through."

"Break down the wall."

"What!? We can't do that!" Neptumon leaned her head downwards to get a closer look at the newcomers. "None'a us know what this is, s'not our place ta smash through it."

"None of _you_ maybe, but we both know what this is…"

Audrey looked at the wall, and then back at the pair, "Are you ever going to tell us?"

"It's rather a long one." Zotzmon pointed out.

"We've…got time to spare…" Canismon responded with a dry tone.

"Well then, I'll start with what it is." Muzenmon pointed at the wall, "This is the barrier around the Sapphire Temple. It's just about impenetrable, and has always been."

"Whoa, whoa, wait. You're expecting us to break into a _temple_!?" Nathan gaped.

Zotzmon sent him an annoyed look. "Let her finish."

"As I was saying, it surrounds a Temple. Now, it's been here for almost as long as the Digital World itself, but this wall wasn't. It was built only a few short decades ago.

"The Sapphire Temple was accompanied by three other temples, but those three are far away from here. Before the wall was built, each temple was the source of positive data, and helped to keep evil away from the surrounding area.

"However, a higher power, an evil one at that, manipulated the data around each temple to create walls like this one, which locked in the positive energy and gave them free reign over everything not within these walls. And that's actually a very large portion of the Digital World, as the walls cut the radius by almost ninety percent…" Muzenmon spun the story out as Nagamon himself had told her to do. There were bits and pieces of truth in her story, but of course the teens and their partners wouldn't be able to figure out what was true and what was a lie.

Zotzmon picked up from there. "And that's why we're going to ask the help of the Chosen Children – yes we know that's you – to break through these walls and allow the positive data to leak out once again, depleting the territory of evil."

"But…how do you know we're the Chosen Children?" Zuru tilted her head in confusion.

"You know, the Digivices _do_ kind of give it away…" Muzenmon pointed out.

Canismon sat up. "How do you know all this?"

"Mm, we kept records of the past, picking up from where Digimon before us left off." The bat Digimon was prepared with an answer.

"But why should we trust _you_?" Kotamon narrowed her eyes at the pair.

Muzenmon responded to that with a gentle tone in her voice. "Because you've got nowhere else to go and nothing else to do…you're stuck here otherwise."

"…give us a few minutes." Nathan signaled for the others to move out of earshot and discuss the situation.

"Of course."

"Should we really believe what they're saying?" Gin leaned forwards; the group was in a tight circle with their heads together, while the rookie Digimon peeked in through the tangle of legs, Neptumon looming overhead.

"I don't know, it all sounds plausible…" Audrey noted.

Zuru frowned. "They were right about us not having much of a choice, too…"

Kotamon looked up at her partner. "But can we really just go ahead and _destroy_ something like that?"

"Hey, we wouldn't be completely destroying it." Ospreymon piped in, "Just making a small entryway. Well, small compared to the rest of the thing.

"He's got a point there." Nathan said. "What do you think, Canismon? You know a lot more about these kinds of things."

Canismon sighed. While he was very knowledgeable about the past and various things along those lines, he honestly hadn't known about these temples until they were told of them. "Well… It's possible it's all true, but is so ancient that many Digimon had… forgotten about them entirely… We can trust them for now…"

The rest of the team nodded, then split apart and walked back towards the bee and the bat.

"We'll believe the story you told us." Nathan spoke out. "So just tell us how to get through."

Muzenmon smiled, her wings flicking excitedly, "Like we said. Smash through."

Still a bit skeptical, the Digimon hesitated before going at the wall.

Kotamon's fists suddenly became surrounded with a silver-blue, translucent aura. "Arctic Strike!" She punched at the wall, but bounced away, leaving only a few thin sheets of ice on the surface.

"Landmine!" Canismon covered the ground in front of the wall with glowing red circles, which exploded once he moved away. But once the salt in the air settled, it was evident that was no use.

Ospreymon started spinning around, electricity building up around him. "Lightning Ty-"

"No, no, no!" Muzenmon interrupted, causing the annoyed bird to halt his attack. "That's obviously not going to do a thing."

"Well then what do you expect us to do, rub it and hope it vanishes?" Ospreymon snapped.

"I guess you haven't made the connection yet…" Zotzmon closed his eyes, sighed, and reopened them with his head turned towards Gin. "Have you even looked at your Digivice since your partner evolved?"

"Huh? No, I haven't…" Gin reached into her pocket, pulling out the device that was almost the same shade as the walls themselves. The square screen, though it showed no data, was glowing faintly. "Well what do you know, it's glowing!"

"It just might be reacting to the wall." Audrey said, his eyes shifting from the Digicode inscriptions to the device in Gin's palm. "Seeing as none of ours did that once our partners evolved."

Zotzmon nodded. "Exactly. So the other three Digimon's attacks were futile as this temple wasn't linked to their partner."

Neptumon tentatively lifted her claws and rested the tips against the wall. "So 'en that means that…" She shifted her arm muscles and dragged that one arm down the sapphire surface. Sure enough, three deep scratches were gouged into it. "…only I can 'urt th'wall."

The bee Digimon set her wings in motion again, levitating off of the salty ground. "There we go."

Slowly, the sea monster turned her head to look at her partner, who gave an approving, yet hesitant nod. She took a few lumbering steps backwards, spreading her arms wide.

"Tidal Whiplash!" Both arms came down, forming blades of water as they cut through the air. The moment they were created they streaked forwards. Neptumon's claws hit the salt and kicked up a cloud of it, at the same time her attack slammed into the wall, sending shards of sapphires straight at them. The team ducked but nothing hit them, as a thick shield of honey seemed to have sprung up just in time.

"Got to be prepared for things like that." Muzenmon pointed out, as the honey shattered in place, the pieces – now impaled with blue debris – fell apart slowly, as they were still quite sticky.

Canismon looked at the bee with an expression of mild surprise. "Well…thank you for that…"

She smiled in return. "You're very welcome."

"Guys, look. The salt's settling down!" Gin peeked out from behind her partner Digimon.

Where there once was solid wall, there was now a fairly large vertical hole, chunks of the blue stone littered the salt around it, ruining the perfect whiteness. Slowly the team got to their feet and made their way towards the new opening, staring as if blinking would have them miss something important.

Within the temple walls were what looked like fields of grass. Green grass, but with a slight tinge of blue nonetheless. Scattered in the fields were large moss-covered stones, very likely also of sapphire, but the moss hid that. The sky overhead was no different, except that looking up they noticed a system of what appeared to be-

"Pipes? That doesn't make any sense…why would they be so high up?" Audrey moved his eyes along the winding bends.

The further along they walked, the more they saw. But what excited them most were the trees. Twisted bark over thick trunks, and leaves that looked like those of weeping willows back in the real world. These trees also had what seemed to be fruit, and this immediately pulled the kids towards a patch of them.

"Oh no way, now this is just crazy!" Zuru laughed.

"What? Trees with _fruit_ are crazy?" Kotamon blinked, tilting her head at her partner.

"No, not at all. But see…" the chestnut-haired girl reached up to tap on one of the large, green, striped melons. "Watermelons don't grow on trees."

"Well this place just gets weirder and weirder, doesn't it?" Nathan laughed, eagerly reaching up to pick one of the melons.

"Wait!" Gin hissed. "Are you sure it's okay for us to be even touching those?"

Ospreymon gave the girl a sympathetic expression – or at least what he assumed was one. "We've just smashed a hole larger than Neptumon into the side of a temple's palisade and you're worried about eating their watermelons?"

"Well, they're on trees, so I was a little suspicious…" The Asian girl muttered.

Muzenmon, flying by, gave the girl a light pat on the shoulder, which made her instinctively recoil a little. "Don't worry; this temple is linked to your Digivice. You have every right to be eating the fruit as you have to be setting foot in it."

Unfortunately for the team, whichever of them heard that remark completely missed the sarcasm in it.

"Great! I'm starved…" Neptumon reached out with one of her massive claws, to take one of the melons from the tree. Unfortunately for her, the moment the watermelon's stem was dislodged from the tree branch, her energy left her and she immediately shrunk down to her Rookie stage, winning the race to the ground. This promptly resulted in a hollow smash to the head once the melon fell and broke open, spilling its red innards all over the otter.

"That was _extremely_ smooth, Lutramon." Kotamon laughed from her seat on a tree branch, where it was much easier to get to the fruit.

She shook herself off, looking around for a piece of melon solid enough to eat. "Laugh while yeh can, I'll get yeh for that…" she muttered sneakily.

As the team was just about dying from hunger for quite a long time, no one had any complaints when Nathan suggested they sit down and take a break to eat as many watermelons as their stomachs could handle.

However little nutritional value those watermelons may have had, it filled up the teams stomachs and refilled their spirits, and after a few minutes rest they were ready to up and explore the rest of the temple grounds. Maybe even run into the temple itself, as thus far there was no sign of it.

"You know, I think this place beats the salty desert in weirdness." Zuru said.

"It's just really bothering me that I can't figure out what all these pipes are for." Audrey was walking with his head tilted towards the sky, constantly trying to follow the paths of the pipes. "If anything, they just go _higher_."

"Does that answer anything?" Nathan caught the other boy's attention by pointing to a spot a little in the distance, where a few rows of piping angled down and seemed to spill water downwards into what was likely a pond.

"Probably." The white haired boy picked up his pace a bit, but what they saw upon closer inspection only confused them further. "…I'm just going to stop trying now."

The water from the pond was actually going _up_ into the pipes, defying all natural laws of gravity.

"This place is insane." Zuru commented.

"But at least we know that the water is going somewhere." Gin pointed out. "So why don't we just follow the pipes?"

"Good idea..." Canismon stared at the pipes for a while. Then, assuming that as they went higher, they got closer to whatever they were feeding, he began heading towards the center of the grounds.

Muzenmon and Zotzmon followed the group, but at this point lingered a little until they were all far enough ahead to be out of earshot.

"Zotzmon, are you sure it's alright for them to head to the temple? I mean, you know what Nagamon said was in there, if they were to get their hands on those that would probably mean so much trouble for us. I mean, there's always a chance they won't even run into it but if they do they'll ask and-"

"Oh shut up." The bat Digimon gave his partner a tired expression. "They likely will find it and we'll let them take it and use it as bait to drag them to the other three temples."

"But that's just asking for doom! Have you even been listening to me?" A stupid question really, Muzenmon's partner always tried his best to ignore her voice.

Zotzmon sighed. "If there was a risk, there'd be a much different plan. Nagamon knows that they're also broken, and serve no real purpose but to look pretty." He smiled a little. "But that's not what we're going to tell them."

Muzenmon's antennae twitched. "Ohhh, I see. But the Digimon that run the temple…?"

"Gone. The timing of this couldn't be any more perfect. They're on a pilgrimage that takes a month at least. It's about halfway through that, too. Of course, the other temples are in the same situation."

"Funny that they have so much trust in the strength of those walls…" The bee chuckled.

"It's justified. This hasn't exactly been done before."

"That's true. But they can't really expect there to be no threat at all, can they?" Muzenmon waited a minute or so for her partner to respond, then became impatient and sarcastic. "Oh, you've gone silent on me again. I guess you've used up all your talking for the next hour."

"Shut up."

For a while the team thought that these pipes would go on forever, that they would just keep following them until their legs fell off. But after only about a half an hour of walking it became clear that the reason they weren't seeing anything in the distance was that there was a thick mist in the atmosphere. The ten of them stuck close to each other as they moved further into the mist. The pipes weren't even visible at this point, but the sound of rushing water got louder and louder as they walked.

"Anyone else _really_ have to go to the bathroom, with all the sounds of running water…?" Nathan piped up with a vaguely immature comment.

"Thanks for sharing, Nath. Really." Zuru dryly retorted.

Ospreymon, who had flown a little ahead to scout, returned, stopping the conversation where it was. "That's nice and all, but there's something up ahead."

"Finally!" Gin gave a relieved sigh.

A few minutes later the rest of them could see it too. A couple of spindly towers, and an angled, twisting roof. The closer they got the more detail they could see. The walls themselves seemed to bulge out near the bottom, and follow a sharp curve inwards the higher they got. The main doors – or at least what they assumed were the main doors – were surrounded by a tall, fat arch, which they thought was glistening crystal until closer inspection proved it was tiled with mirrors.

The sapphire blocks that created it were seamless, and a little rough. In fact, the temple resembled something like a mutilated version of the modern architecture back on earth, but of sapphire instead of poured concrete.

"It's _gorgeous_…" Kotamon gazed up at the doors in awe.

"Well it certain'y is somethin'…" Lutramon's eyes lingered at the mirror shards, watching fragments of her own reflection warp and move as she walked by.

Gin hesitated before following her partner. "Do we just go in unannounced?"

Audrey stopped right behind the girl. "The door's ajar…"

Muzenmon flew a little bit forwards. "Besides, it _is_ yours. Not going in is like not coming home."

"Well, that does make sense." She took her hand out of her pocket, where she had been firmly grasping her Digivice the whole way there, feeling it get warmer and warmer as they'd move closer. Now she pretty much had to let go, as it was becoming too hot to touch with her bare skin.

"Will you do the honors?" Nathan laughed lightly, gesturing at the door. He was a little paranoid, too, that there might be some crazy security system that would go off if anyone but Gin or Lutramon opened the doors.

Gin nodded. "Of course." She lifted a slightly shaky hand to graze the surface of the door. Once she was sure that it wasn't going to attack her, she pressed her grateful palm against the cold surface, a nice contrast from her Digivice.

The doors swung open with surprising ease, giving way to a suddenly very loud sound of waterfalls, and a view of the pipe's final destination in the center of the giant room. They wove over the sides of the spherical ceiling and spiraled together in the center, where the water once again obeyed gravity and poured downwards onto an ornate fountain, the entire surface of which appeared to be engraved just like the wall they had previously destroyed part of.

Lutramon whistled. "Well, that's some 'ome…"

Nathan recovered from dropping his jaw and looked at the bat and the bee. "Are _all_ the temples this fantastic?"

It took a moment for either of them to formulate an answer, as they were both in awe but wouldn't admit it. Neither of them had ever been inside one of these temples, everything from the breakdown of the wall and onwards was something new. They were just really good at acting like they knew everything.

Zotzmon was the first to look at the boy. "Well, I would assume so. They do share a common task, after all."

Rushing water continued to drown out the voices of the team, as each in turn murmured to others, commenting on the temple in awe and confusion. Gin was running her hand against the side of one of the fountain basins. The water that splashed around inside it was just the right temperature, warm but not too warm, like the seawater around Earth's more tropical parts.

Without even noticing where she was going, the ledge was leading Gin around the giant fountain, away from the view of everyone else. Except Lutramon, who had promptly decided it was a great idea to jump _into_ the fountain, and was swimming in it, following the sight of Gin's fingers.

Then the fountain ledge suddenly stopped, snapping the girl back into reality. She looked away from her knuckles and straight ahead, where a flat staircase had suddenly jumped out at her, or so she liked to believe.

"Hey guys!" She called over the sound of the water. "There's something back here!" Gin quickly eyed the fountain basins on either side of the stairs, to check for booby traps, before setting foot on the first step.

Canismon was the first one to appear, having easily heard her with his attentive ears. "Don't go too far ahead on your own… This is still unfamiliar territory…"

Gin turned around to give the dog a reassuring smile, which winced a little when her partner leapt out of the water and shook off. "Lutramon, watch it! And don't worry; I was walking slowly to give you guys time to catch up."

The otter Digimon puffed up indignantly, "You rather I drip all'ver th'stairs?" She then laughed. "Really, you should have gone for a dip."

"Was there at least anything inside the fountains?" Audrey asked, stepping up with the rest of the group in tow.

"Nah… Jus' more 'ngravings."

"That's mildly _disappointing_, actually." Kotamon commented. "Would have been cool if there was treasure or something, hidden _under_ the water…" She lagged behind a bit, eyeing the surface of the fountain water with sparkling eyes.

"Actually, there _is_ something along the lines of treasure, Kots." Zuru, once getting her partners attention, directed her hand to the top of the stairs, where the rest of them now stood.

"It's not very extravagant. Kind of dingy, really." Ospreymon sat himself on one of the topmost steps, suddenly uninterested.

"Pick it up, Gin." Nathan suggested.

The girl's lavender eyes stared at what was set upon the altar – a white altar at that, in contrast to just about everything else sapphire. It was a string of beads, medium ones separated by a few smaller ones, with one large one in what was the assumed middle. The beads were, of course, blue, but they seemed grungy, like they had had their share of bad run-ins with all the things that tarnish jewelry.

Her arm hesitated a bit, as it always did, before reaching for the beads and picking them up. She felt almost disappointed that they hadn't reacted, or twitched, or even suddenly become clean. There was nothing coming from them, they felt…dead.

"Well, all things considered, that was pretty anti-climactic." She noted.

Canismon turned to look at the pair that led them there. "Was something supposed to happen?"

Zotzmon and Muzenmon exchanged the tiniest of glances, rethinking what Nagamon had told them about the beads, but also remembering his conclusion that they were, indeed, useless.

"Mmm, no." Muzenmon finally said. "There was little mention of them in what we've read; they don't do much except look pretty."

"Well they're failing at that, too." The large blue feline pointed out, staring at a nonexistent reflection on one of the beads.

"You can likely take them, too." Zotzmon shrugged. "As a…souvenir or something."

"Huh, good idea!" Gin lifted the beads up to look into the largest one, barely making out a clouded shape in the centre – wonderful, it was even dirty _inside_. She slipped the beads over her head and tucked them under her shirts.

Muzenmon turned to Zotzmon once the team had once again become distracted by the altar. "Are you sure that was the best idea?" She hissed. "Just letting them take it?"

"Relax." Came the calm response. "It's _dead_. You can't revive something that's died, and isn't a Digimon." One of his wing claws was absentmindedly scratching at a spot on his chin. "Besides, we ought to get going."

"Going where?" Audrey asked, causing the bat Digimon to flinch. Thankfully it seemed that the boy had only heard the last line, and nothing before.

"To the next temple, of course!" Muzenmon picked up her partner's slack. "We've got kind of a long way to go, so we might as well be on our way now!"

The others slowly started to make their ways back down the staircase, reproachful at the thought of more traveling, but thankful for at least one thing, which Nathan voiced with a dryly cheerful tone. "At least this is better than walking in a desert of salt."


	7. Black and Green and Rocky All Over

**Author's Note:** Yeah, pretty soon for the next chapter to be up, and it's longer than the last (again), but there's two temples in one episode here. I got hit with a bout of nostalgia and Digimon mood after marathoning some Savers and listening to Tamers music, and wrote this up in two days, haha. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** Don't own Digimon/concept blahblahblah VIRAL and the characters in this chapter belong to meeeee.

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**Digimon VIRAL  
Episode Seven  
Black and Green and Rocky All Over**

"Do you have any idea where you're going!?" Zuru called forwards, the wind whipping away half of her voice.

"They said north so I'm going north!" Gavindramon replied, barely turning his head backwards.

She frowned at the giant raptor. "Audrey, are you sure we should be heading out so blindly?"

The other teen turned around to try and minimize what sound would be lost in the wind. "We don't really have much choice but to trust those two, they really seem to know about these temples."

"But do we have to go so _fast!?_" Kotamon whined.

"Would you rather…we walk all the way there?" Canismon replied gruffly, leaning forwards to keep his partner from blowing over backwards, as he wouldn't stop sitting straight up and avidly looking at the surroundings as they whizzed by.

Upon breaking the wall of the sapphire temple, and Gin finding herself a souvenir, the teens and their Digimon followed Zotzmon and Muzenmon – who were now trying their hardest to keep up to speed with Gavindramon – back the way they came and back to the Saline Desert. Thankfully, by this point Ospreymon was almost completely rested, and was able to Evolve and serve as a mode of transportation once again.

They'd followed the gently curving wall in order to find some form of orientation to their location. At top speed it didn't take too long for them to find that the glimmering white salt had suddenly vanished from beneath them, falling as a sharp cliff, and leading towards a coast and a gaping black sea.

Zotzmon claimed that the next nearest temple was due north, and that they _should_ reach it if they followed the coast. Of course, the white beaches had begun to wind east and west so often and so irregularly that no one had any honest clue as to which direction they were actually going.

"If I wasn' so tired from evolvin' I coulda jus'swam us there..." Lutramon was curled between Kotamon's back and her partner's lap, who was inevitably leaning backwards into Nathan.

Gin patted the otter's hat-covered head. "Don't worry about that. It would have been a little less TERRIFYING," she shouted the one word, lifting her head up to direct it at their current transport, "but it'd have been slower, too."

Nathan grinned. "Besides, this is fun! Canismon, why can't you fly?"

The white dog let out a low growl, signaling his displeasure at being asked such a thing.

"Alright, alright, I get it." The teen pouted a bit. "I was just kidding around, I know dogs can't fly."

"Oh the _chaos_ that would ensue if they could, too…" Kotamon joked.

"If you two don't stop he'll throw one of you off." Zuru smiled at her partner and the purple haired boy, and then promptly went back to looking over Audrey's shoulder and squinting at the oncoming wind.

"Maybe we should stop for directions?" Gin suggested.

Canismon, who had diverted his attention and turned around to see if their 'escorts' were still in tow, returned his interest to the conversation. "I really don't think…anyone around here would even…want to tell us where it is."

"Besides," Nathan piped in, "we're fine as we are."

Gin huffed. "Well I thought it was a good idea."

"It is a good idea." Came Gavindramon's throaty voice from up ahead – the last one anyone expected to like that plan. "In fact, I already know where we're going to stop."

Audrey leaned over to look at the side of his Digimon's head. "You know where you're going?"

"No." Was the simple response. "I know where I _am,_ I don't know where I'm _going_. There's a difference."

The boy sighed softly. "Well is this place close?"

"You haven't been paying much attention to your surroundings, have you, kid?"

Audrey frowned a bit, staring ahead. Soon enough he let out a quiet "Oh." when he spotted a large white lighthouse stationed on the coast not far ahead. "It's the lighthouse, isn't it?"

Gavindramon nodded. "An old friend lives there, he'd be able to tell us where to go, no problem."

Kotamon peeked her head out from behind Zuru. "Gavindramon has _friends_?"

"I'LL THROW YOU OFF, I SWEAR."

"Aiyaaaah, calm _down_!" Kotamon nervously patted the part of the giant bird she was sitting on. "Just a joke, a _joke_!"

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The sun was, by now, starting to crawl its way under the horizon line, leaving the fat beam from the lighthouse clearly visible against the red sky. Four kids and six Digimon stood on the sandy ground around it, a few of them talking with the bat and the bee, confirming directions and the like.

The gaping black sea looked a little less intimidating with the sun at this angle, and with the light beam reflecting off of the heavily rippled surface. Its edges rolled and leaped up at the rocky shore – or what looked like a seaweed-covered shore, most of the rocks were sleeping Coastleomon.

There wasn't much to the lighthouse itself. It looked like a common, white one, like those back in the real world. A small hut was attached to the side of the tower, and the entire thing looked unsheltered and unprotected, sitting on a part of the coast that jutted out from the mainland.

"You guys wait down here; it'll slow us all down if I have to explain everything." Gavindramon ordered.

"But won't the fact that you're…you know, evolved, confuse him?" Gin pondered.

The giant bird only grunted a response, before flapping his wings once and lifting off of the ground. Within a few seconds he had situated himself on the roof of the tower, looking down through the bars whenever the light wouldn't shine directly into his face. "OY! Katielmon, you in there?!"

A minute passed, and then another, with no response.

"KATIELMON!!!" He roared.

"He's going to attract…unwanted attention if he keeps…shouting like that…" Canismon muttered.

Finally the giant osprey saw movement from within the tower. It was another bird, a Rookie stage. Pale yellow, with an even paler head, and red spots on his cheeks and wings. Instead of claws on his wings, like Ospreymon had, his feathers elongated and shaped themselves into what would be considered fingers. His wings, the crest feathers on the back of his head, and his trailing tail were all tipped with white, and his beak and feet were a dusty pink.

"Hmmm? Oh, Ospreymon?" Came a gentle, but tired-sounding voice.

Gavindramon grinned. "Ohhh yeah! I've Evolved!" He blinked once then tilted his head, noticing that there should be a presence accompanying the cockatiel Digimon. "Hey, where's-?"

Katielmon cut him off by raising one of his wings, and pointed to the ocean.

"…Oh."

"I'm waiting, that's all I do nowadays."

Gavindramon shifted uncomfortably for a moment, not really being the best at these sorts of situations. "Hey, uh…do you happen to know which way's north? We're trying to find a temple."

His friend nodded slowly, pointing in what could easily be assumed to be north – they were way off course. "That way. You should hurry though, there's a storm coming and it'll be here before the night rolls in."

The fact that Katielmon hadn't reacted one bit to the sudden change of topic, Ospreymon's evolution, or even the mention of a temple and 'we', had the giant bird worried. But he could tell that the lighthouse master had no intention of telling him exactly what had happened, and that this was no time to start prying into his friends business. Instead he exchanged a quick goodbye, and hopped off the tower, landing in front of the others.

"We're way off course. North is that way." He pointed a tiny arm in the same direction Katielmon had shown him.

"I _told_ you they were getting us lost." Muzenmon snapped at her partner.

"No you didn't. You sounded very sure of yourself when you said 'we're almost there'."

Muzenmon grumbled.

"Come on, let's get going." Gavindramon disregarded the two completely. "He said there was a storm coming, and it'd be here before nightfall."

While the others once again climbed up the crouching Digimon, Audrey walked over and stood right in front of his beak, laying a hand on the cool, metal-like texture. "Hey, you feeling alright? You seem so…subdued compared to how you were before you went up there."

Gavindramon looked at his partner, coming to what was probably the closest he ever would be to sharing his feelings. "I'm just worried about a friend."

"Then maybe we should wait, stay a bit and-"

"No. He needs the time."

Audrey nodded and climbed up right behind the Digimon's skull, a little surprised but relieved that he wasn't as much of a jerk as he was making himself out to be. The moment he settled himself into the green feathers, they were off once again, following the direction rather than the coast.

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Flying through a storm of this caliber was probably rather high up there on the list of stupid things the kids had done. They were all drenched and could barely shiver against the wind for it was so strong. Thankfully, Gavindramon was able to keep the lightning away from them.

Barely anything around them was visible for the most part, until lightning flashed and illuminated their surroundings for a second. All they really had to count on now was that Audrey's partner was able to tell whether or not he was flying in a straight line.

"How much longer do we have to suffer through this?!" Nathan whined loudly, jumping back into a hunched position when a loud crack of thunder drowned out the tail end of his words.

"Honestly we should have reached it by now." Zotzmon responded. He and Muzenmon had been forced to join the rest of the team, as their wings were drenched and far too heavy to support their weight – Gavindramon was using a well placed Electric Radiance to keep the rain off of his own great wingspan.

"Has he been heading north? See if he's been heading north!" Muzenmon called up to the team.

"Oy! Gavindramon! Have you been headi-"

"Yes of COURSE I HAVE." The bird cut off Kotamon's voice with annoyance. "I know when I'm flying in a straight line _thank you very much._"

Audrey smiled to himself a little. At least his partner was back to normal, regardless of the situation they were all in. He could tell this was getting a little arduous for him, though. The rain, and the entire team huddled onto the bird's back was proving to be a lot more weight than he could safely carry for such a distance.

"The thing is, we can't even see the place…" Zuru mused. "I mean, most of what's around us, we can pick out the shapes and colors a bit, but we're still flying blind."

"We'll probably get a signal or something, don't worry." Gin was keeping an optimistic attitude about it.

"Yeah, hey, Audrey!" Nathan called towards the front, "Shouldn't your Digivice be glowing, like Gin's was?"

The boy turned around to give him a weak smile. "My Digivice is black. If it glows black, there's no way I'd see it."

Silence.

"That's _stupid_!" Nathan groaned.

Gin chuckled a little. "Audrey, touch it. Mine was warming up, too."

He reached his hand into his pocket, and sure enough, there was a bit of warmth emanating from the small device, thawing his freezing palm. "Oh, it's warm."

"Oh, great!" Zuru sighed with relief. "Now we just gotta keep our eyes open and-AGH!" She cut herself off when they were all forced to suddenly have a stronger grip on Gavindramon, who had turned sharply upwards and to the right after a particularly bright flash of lightning.

"What the _hell_ was _that_ for!?" Kotamon yelled in protest, clinging to both Zuru and Audrey, who were seated in front of her.

Audrey coughed. "You guys missed it?"

"I just about flew _straight_ into the wall! It's so damn dark the thing came up outta nowhere!"

Gavindramon circled around, descending sharply along the side of the wall, being this close the controlled electricity over his wings was reflecting off of the shining black surface. The ground around the walls was just about nonexistent except for a small outcropping that angled down and vanished into the darkness.

"We've got no choice…but to break in from the air." Canismon pointed out. "There's nowhere to land."

"I'm aware of that, thanks." The bird responded, his pupils already shrinking into slits. He opened his sharp maw, electricity building up in the back of his throat. "THUNDER RINGS!" A series of half a dozen electric halos shot from his mouth and hit the wall, exploding. A large, dark hole was quickly visible, as the wind and rain stopped the debris from lingering from long.

Tucking his wings to his sides, Gavindramon dove through the hole, slowing his flight by spreading his wings open, and descending closer to the ground. From what they could see of the area within the walls, it wasn't much different from the Sapphire Temple, there were trees and stones and grass. Of course, instead of being tinted with blue, everything was darker than its natural counterpart, and the trees bore blackberries instead of watermelons.

Gavindramon held out as long as he could, before finally landing not far from the temple itself, and de-evolving to his Rookie stage.

"Thanks, Ospreymon." Audrey shivered a bit; checking to make sure his partner was okay. The other joined in, saying their thank you's.

"Guys, I hate to ruin the mood of the successful entry, but if we keep up like this we'll all die of hypothermia."

Kotamon tilted her head at her partner. "Die, from _cold?_" She herself was quite freezing, but didn't mind it in the slightest. Of course, an ice-type would have no problem with the lowering temperature.

"She's right." Gin sneezed. "And it's raining in here, too."

Canismon turned round to Zotzmon and Muzenmon. "There's no problem with us taking a night's rest, is there?"

Zotzmon shook his head, remembering that anyone who'd occupy the temples would be gone for much longer still. "It's fine."

"Oh, great! I'm exhaaaaausted!" Nathan stumbled himself forwards. "Let's get inside, so we're out of the rain."

"Right." Audrey picked up his feathery companion, carrying him piggy-back style. "Here, you've taken us all this way there's no need for you to have to walk the rest of it."

Ospreymon blinked in slight surprise at his partner, then looked away and muttered a quick "Thanks…"

Their vision inside the temple walls was improved slightly, as the topmost tower of the building seemed to have been equipped with a powerful lightning rod. The bolts struck it often, giving them more glimpses of the stormy grounds.

From what they could see, the temple was built very similarly to Gin's, except that everything looked to be stretching upwards into the sky. Each time a bolt of lightning hit the tallest tower, multiple, thin strings of light would illuminate down along the stone façade, and then go out as quickly as they had lit up.

They were practically running to the thing, barely speaking to each other to save their energy. A wave of relief swept over them once they finally reached the mirror-arched doors.

Audrey kneeled to let Ospreymon down onto the ground, and then straightened up to face the doors. "Finally here." The Digivice in his pocket was rapidly heating up, as Gin's had done at the previous temple. He reached out his hands and grazed them over the engraved surface, feeling around for the partition. He found it, and placing his hands on either side, made to push the doors open. But they wouldn't move.

"Is something wrong?" Zuru asked.

"They're not opening." Audrey muttered. "Maybe they're locked or something.

Gin looked crushed. "How are we supposed to find a key when it's this dark!?"

"How do we even know…if there is a key…?" Canismon pointed out.

Almost in complete unison everyone turned to look at the two Digimon who were now trying their best to get the water off of their wings.

Zotzmon looked up at them all. "Well of course there's a key."

"You just got lucky with the door being ajar, last time." Muzenmon continued. "But it's no problem. Locating the key, that is."

"Why, where's the key?" Nathan scratched the back of his wet head in confusion.

Ospreymon simply blinked tiredly when Zotzmon pointed a clawed wing at him. "Oh, me? Well that makes sense."He walked over to the doors, placing all six of his claws onto them. Without even bothering to call out an attack of any sort, he sent voltage to the blackened tips. They could all see tiny veins of electricity cover the surface door for a second, and then fade away. The bird was the only one to hear the faint click of a lock being opened, as the rain drowned it out for the others.

"Thanks Ospreymon." Audrey lingered his palm on his partner's head for a moment, before once again placing his palms on the door and pushing it open. Gratefully, he and the rest of the team stepped into the black, dry interior.

If anything, it was even darker than the outside. However, the same lights that they had seen on the outside of the structure were on the inside as well, so with each thunder strike they were able to make sure they weren't walking into anything.

In the center of the room, where the Sapphire Temple had had its ornate fountains, there was a series of winding staircases, which climbed their way around each other and towards the ceiling. There were wispy black curtains of some sort trailing down along the sides of the stairs. A space was clear in the very center of their bases, where a large, black dish was situated inside a hollow in the floor.

Canismon bounded over to inspect the dish. "Ashes. Well, wood and ashes…not all of it's burned." He stared up at the curtains for a moment. "If we could light a fire…and tear down those curtains…you could probably warm up."

Ospreymon was already way ahead of him, hitting the wood with a bolt of his own, setting it aflame and then promptly falling over and asleep right next to it.

Glad to finally have warmth, the rest of them came over. The teens each pulled down a curtain, and wrapped themselves in it while their clothes dried by the fire.

Muzenmon tugged on the side of Zuru's makeshift toga, causing her to flinch in surprise a little. "Sorry. But I thought I ought to tell you that your temple's the next one."

"Oh? Please don't tell me it's going to be far away and that we'll have to fly through another storm to get to it…" She mumbled, a weak smile on her face.

The bee shook her head, chuckling a bit. "No, no. It's actually extremely close to the Obsidian Temple – that being the one we're in now. There's a ravine right beside it, and it's what separates the two."

"We'll head over in the morning. The storm will have likely died down by then." Zotzmon added, walking by on his way to the fire.

"Sounds good to me." The chestnut-haired girl yawned, moving to join the rest by the fire, which was by now burning brightly.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The girls were the first ones up, and had decided to head to the other side on their own, and not bother the boys. They had found Muzenmon and Zotzmon already awake, and convinced the bee to accompany them. Zotzmon would remain, and wake the others should a threat appear. Thankfully the hole that Gavindramon had made was actually almost directly over a half-hill which seemed to grow into the wall, and then back out on the other side.

Once out, they saw that the temple tied to Zuru's Digivice really wasn't all that far. They could see it clearly across the ravine, which had a sharply angled path leading from one temple to the other, though at the lowest point it was surrounded by black.

It didn't take them long to edge over the side of the hill, along the engraved obsidian walls, and to start sliding down the very rocky sides of the path – had they taken the path itself they would have simply started to slide down uncontrollably and rather painfully.

"Well, we made it this far." Gin wiped her brow. "Going back or ahead is going to be exactly the same."

Zuru stared up at the gleaming green walls of her temple. "And this suddenly looks a lot more intimidating than it did when we were up there." She turned to the other girl, smiling. "Thanks for coming with me, by the way."

Gin waved her hand. "Oh don't worry about it! There's no way I'd let you go alone, anyway."

"Eeew…" Lutramon diverted their attention to herself. "This's tar…" She had placed the tip of her paw into the water, and had pulled it back out, thick strands of the stuff dripping back down. "Yeh can't swim i' _this_…"

Her partner chuckled a bit. "Well then don't jump in!"

"And don't get _pushed_ in." Kotamon piped up.

"Now that's mean. You wouldn't do that." Zuru warned the blue feline.

Kotamon pointed a claw over the girl's shoulder, to the tar that was behind her. "No, but _they_ would."

Zuru whipped around to see four dirty, draconic skulls staring up at her with glowing white eyes. "Oh no."

"Pichemon…" Muzenmon immediately recognized the Digimon. The tar Digimon did not work under Nagamon, so she wasn't worried that their mission had failed and they were being taken care of. Likely, they were simply either being mischievous, or protecting their territory. "They're only at Rookie level, but there are four of them."

The skulls had begun to rise out of the water, dripping blackness off of their sharp teeth. Their bodies appeared to be made out of tar, and they took on vaguely reptilian shapes as they rose, a thick bony spine visible along each of their backs. Each one of them was emitting a gurgling sort of sound from the back of their throats.

"Kotamon, can you Evolve?" Zuru backed into the cat, taking the initiative as Lutramon's evolution was more recent than her own partner's.

"I'm _on_ it!" Kotamon flexed her claws in preparation. Zuru's Digivice was already beginning to glow green. "Kotamon _evolve_…" Once again she was surrounded by the light of Evolution, her form growing and changing. "Fuurinmon!"

"Black Blanket!" The four Pichemon spat out a flat glob of tar, aiming to stick the group down to the ground.

"Oh no you _don't_." The tar was blown out of their way the moment Fuurinmon opened the sack of wind in her claws. Her clouds began to swirl as a silvery mass began to form at the mouth of the bag, and her four tails split to face the cardinal directions. "Compass Star _Tornado!_" Four spinning spheres of wind were shot forth, colliding with each of the Pichemon and freezing them on the spot.

"Awesome! You did it, Fuurinmon!" Zuru patted the white fur around her partner's neck.

Fuurinmon grunted. "They _were_ just Rookies." She flicked one of her tails. "Anyway, I'm done, let's go. I'll blow you guys up the other side."

Muzenmon cleared her throat. "You're…not done, actually."

The rest of them followed her pointed purple claw to the tar behind the frozen Pichemon, where another three skulls had begun to surface.

"I have a feeling the tar pit is full of these things..." Gin looked worried. Even if Lutramon Evolved to help, if their numbers were just about limitless they wouldn't be able to last against them.

Zuru looked at the giant stormy feline. "Freeze 'em and run."

Fuurinmon nodded. "Got it. _Compass Star Tornado!_" Wind shot out again, freezing the Pichemon before they could get any closer. "Now go, _go, GO!_"

They quickly ran over to the other slope, Fuurinmon opening the yellow sack to its full amount, and controlling the wind that came out of it to safely transport Zuru, Gin, and Lutramon to the ground outside the green wall. Muzenmon simply flew up, and Fuurinmon followed, bounding up the rocky slope and using her own wind to stop herself from falling off-balance.

"I can see 'em, there's more'a 'em surfacin'…" Lutramon pulled her head back; she had been sticking it over the ledge to watch the tar pit.

"Then let's get this over with and head back ASAP. All we have to do is break the wall; we don't even have to go in, right?" Zuru asked Muzenmon.

The bee nodded a response. "Going in further was just a matter of exploring, really."

"Fine by me! Compass Star _Tornado!_" Fuurinmon once again opened fire, this time breaking the engraved green walls of the Emerald Temple.

"Right! Let's – hey!" Zuru was knocked to the side as a Pichemon slid by, moving surprisingly quickly for something that was made out of tar and bone.

"It must've found a way up here, somehow." Gin stared at the blackish trail the Digimon left through the bright green grass, weaving between the mossy rocks and the vine-covered trees – which bore green grapes.

"Oh no, I can't just let that thing in there." Zuru glared at it. "Gin? Lutramon? You guys stay here and make sure no more come up." With that, she leaped up onto her partner's back, and the two dashed off after the Pichemon.

The moment they got within the walls it was apparent why the Digimon was moving so quickly, the interior of the temple was extremely windy, and it was likely pushing the creature along. As with the Obsidian and Sapphire Temples before it, this one followed the same build, though parts of it appeared frozen over. Also, the mirrored doors were left wide open, as if the windy atmosphere made them difficult to close.

Of course, the Pichemon ran right inside the building, cackling mischievously.

"You realize that the worst that thing can do is make the whole place dirty, _right?_" Fuurinmon asked her partner.

Zuru narrowed her eyes at the mass of tar as it vanished from their immediate sight. "Of course I know. But seeing as I'm tied to this temple, it's kind of become personal. Let's just get rid of it and get out."

They followed it right into the main hall, the ceiling of which was filled with floating ice plates, which directed a wind around them in a way that created a repeating, slightly monotonous tune. Light was filtering through a multitude of windows, reflecting off of the ice in various directions. They skidded to a stop right beside the bright green staircase, which was surrounded by icy protrusions, when they saw the Pichemon right up against the wall, unsure as to where to run to next.

"No way you're going any further!" Zuru jumped off of her partner's back. "Get the hell out of my temple."

Pichemon stuck out a tar-covered tongue. "Black Blanket!" A larger blob of tar was spat out.

"Not this again…" Fuurinmon shot at it, instead of blowing it away, and it froze and fell to the ground, shattering but not splattering. "You're not going one step further. _Ice Barrier!_" A circle of wind kicked up around the blue feline, which broke and shot towards the squishy black Digimon, freezing along the way until it reached it, shooting through it and encasing it in ice. The Pichemon burst into fragments of data – leaving no computer chips behind.

Zuru let out a sigh of relief. "Alright, now we can go."

Fuurinmon looked up at the staircase. "Aren't you gonna, you know, get a _souvenir_? You're here, you might as _well_…"

The girl stared upwards, and shrugged, beginning to walk up the crystalline green steps. "Might as well."

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The girls hopped over the black debris on the top of the hill, finding that the rest of the team was already waiting for them at the base of it. Fuurinmon was the last to climb in, having lingered to fend off more of the Pichemon. She had also created an icy barrier around the hole left in the Emerald Temple's wall, to keep more of the tar Digimon from coming in.

"Why didn't you take us with you?" Nathan asked as soon as they had reached the base of the hill.

"Didn't want to wake you up." Gin shrugged.

"Plus, it saved some time." Zuru added, rolling her fingers over one of the newly-acquired beads, which were now wrapped around her left wrist.

"Ah, you took yours, too." Audrey had a line of blackened beads hanging from two of his belt loops. Both of theirs looked just as murky and dead as Gin's, and had the largest bead filled with clouded dirt.

"If we get going now," Zotzmon flew over and landed in their midst, "we can get the next temple done by the end of the afternoon."

"You're positive about where this one is, then?" Ospreymon grumbled.

Muzenmon smiled weakly at the green bird, clearly seeing in her mind's eye the shining red walls of the next temple, situated on a hill not far at all from Nagamon's lair. "Of course."


	8. The Final Break In

**Author's Note:** Gise I'm sorry it took so long ): I had a lot of trouble getting around to writing. And I really have nothing to say this time around

**Disclaimer: **All characters are mine, Digimon concept isn't, blahblah...

* * *

**Digimon VIRAL  
Episode Eight  
The Final Break In**

It was a grateful change, the path that they were taking now. For one thing, it was an actual path; packed dirt and everything. It was a little reminiscent of the Saline Desert as they were also following railroad tracks, but there was wispy green grass on all sides. Sometimes they'd find flowers, or bushes, or trees, and even other, weaker Digimon – which didn't attack. All in all, there was a pleasant atmosphere, complete with blue skies and sunshine.

They had all stocked up on fruit, keeping it in a sack made from one of the curtains in the Obsidian Temple. Getting out of that area was much less of a problem than they had expected it to be, as there was a narrow ridge extending past the sloping path that led to the Emerald Temple.

With Fuurinmon's winds there to help their balance, they made it to an area away from the tar pits, a rocky high-rise which soon led them to the field. For a while they even caught a ride along the rails, the same way they had beforehand, until the feline's energy was out and she reverted to her Rookie form.

Nathan was having quite a good time with his goggles in his hands, reflecting the sunlight over the lenses to make a spot of light dance over the ground. This teased his partner's natural instinct to chase things, and he would chuckle to himself whenever the canine Digimon twitched to make a move, before snapping himself out of it and grumbling.

"Is it a long walk to the next one?" Gin inquired. "I'm not complaining, this is actually a pleasant trip for once."

Muzenmon laughed a little. "See that hill up ahead?" She pointed a purple claw at the large lump not far in the distance. "It's behind there, no worries."

"Hey," Audrey spoke, not really looking at anyone but watching Nathan's bounced light darting over the grass, "what happens once we finish this temple? What do we do then?"

The group was silent for a few moments. "That's a really good question, actually…" Zuru noted. A few more moments passed.

"Well?" The boy looked up, directing his gaze at the bat and the bee. "You're the ones that started us on this, you must have an answer."

Muzenmon inwardly winced. They were hoping they could just scrap the group after this, get rid of them for good, no questions asked. Or at least, not that one. She had just begun to weave another plot in her head when her partner interjected.

"We honestly don't know. You probably won't need to do anything, opening the walls should be enough." Of course playing dumb wouldn't have come to mind for Muzenmon, Zotzmon thought, she always refused to look like a fool in front of others.

She caught on, though, and continued where he left off. "Maybe something that we can see will happen, maybe not. It'll probably cleanse the world of the evil forces that taint it right now, though…"

"You know about those?" Nathan paused; he had been readjusting the goggles onto his head.

The bee looked at him with an almost compassionate expression in her eyes. "Of course we do. It's not difficult to sense it in the air itself."

They continued walking in silence, as clouds rolled by on the horizon. Until suddenly Kotamon, who was half-leading the team, stopped very suddenly, causing the rest of them to slowly crash into her, this snapped them all out of their slightly bored stupor.

"Hey, hey! What was that all about?" Ospreymon snapped.

"Um. I figured it might be a bit of a _bad_ idea to keep walking." Kotamon gestured to the path in front of them. Or rather, the lack thereof.

The ground sloped down at first, tricking them into thinking it was the downwards slope of a hill, but instead everything suddenly cut off, leading into a gaping pile of sky. The railroad tracks dangerously jutted out from where they stood, making a path through the air and looking completely calm about it. There was a wind but the tracks didn't even budge.

And sure enough, when they peeked their heads over the edge, they could see miles and miles of red. The tracks actually led right to the wall, which instead of stretching to high heaven, curled in on itself over and over again, creating what looked like a sparkling red maze. Whatever train would have ever used those tracks had an interesting travel line – after flying through the air the tracks attached themselves to the side of the wall and wrapped around the structure before disappearing around some unseen corner and vanishing.

They could actually see the entire structure from here; it was seated on a large hill that was only large enough for the maze itself. All that seemed to surround it was cracked earth, and jagged mountains in the distance.

"Well that's…comforting." Nathan blankly noted.

"I've been hit with the sudden horrifying realization that the only way down there leaves us hanging in the air for a very long time…" Gin was eyeing the rail line with a very worried expression on her face.

"Or for not very long at all…" Zuru mused.

Nathan looked at her, wide-eyed. "Oh no, were _not_ jumping!"

She laughed. "No, definitely not. Turn around!" She gestured behind the goggle head.

The rest of the group looked too, and a little ways behind them, sliding down the tracks was a cart. It was being wheeled along by a grey crowd of about half a dozen Pagumon, each one giggling and staring at them with their narrow red eyes.

Lutramon warily peeked out from behind Gin's legs. "How long've they been followin' us?"

"They caught up about…fifteen minutes or so ago." Canismon answered without hesitating.

Nathan stared at the dog. "And why didn't you tell us?"

"Low-level Digimon… They didn't smell threatening and they kept their distance."

"Not threatening, huh?" Ospreymon muttered. "They seem mighty thrilled about the idea of you guys shooting through the sky on a tiny cart."

"What, you're staying up _here_?" Kotamon blinked.

Ospreymon blinked right back, exasperated. Instead of replying he simply looked at her in a degrading manner and waved a feathered wing.

"…shut up." She muttered.

The group slowly and apprehensively climbed into the cart, except those who could fly, which were really only Ospreymon, Zotzmon, and Muzenmon. It was a bit crowded but that made them feel a bit safer, as they were so squished together it would be more difficult for any of them to fall out.

"Are you sure this is such a good idea?" Gin stared ahead nervously.

"Yeah I don' know abou' this either…" Lutramon muttered. "Isn' there another way-AY!?" With a jolt the cart was pushed forwards by the Pagumon, and it slowly rolled along the tracks. For a moment it teetered over the edge of the cliff before lurching forwards and shooting down the tracks.

"OH GOD THIS IS THE WORST DAY OF MY LIFE, EVER. I KIND OF WANT TO DIE RIGHT NOW."

"I think we share the same feelings!" Kotamon screamed a response to her partner's outburst. The rest of them were, if not yelling, either cowering into the others or staring ahead, panicked.

The cart sped down the tracks, often bumping over the steel beams. It wove over and around, left, right, climbing upwards, speeding downwards. The path seemed much less straight now that they were traveling down it. The sparkling red walls were coming towards them like a giant wave.

Rather suddenly the tracks bent and began to follow the perimeter, throwing the group to one side of the cart. It was dangerously close to the ruby bricks, but what seemed far more unsafe was the sudden sight of an end to their ride. They'd reached a long, straight section of the wall, at the end of which the tracks bent upwards and simply stopped.

"Oh no, this is bad! We've gotta stop!" Gin called out.

"How do you expect us to stop this thing!?" Kotamon whimpered.

Canismon flexed his claws. "Leave it to me. Nathan!"

"Right!" The purple-haired boy pulled out his Digivice, which was already glowing red.

"Canismon_evolve_…" The dog leaped up to balance himself over the team, while his illuminated form grew over them. "Arainumon!"

With a grunt he grounded his cloved hooves into the steel sides of the cart, and reached his claws forwards. A horrible screech of metal rang around them as he grasped the tracks as best as he could, occasionally snapping a wooden cross tie in the process.

The group was thrown forwards when he made contact, but they were grateful that they were slowing down, albeit very rapidly.

Arainumon was wincing with each contact of claw to cross tie, the splinters would burst around his paws, but flew away from his face. Within moments the cart had come to a ragged stop, mere meters from the twisted end of the tracks. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh man…" Nathan slumped against the Digimon's fluffy red tails. "Thank you _so_ much, Arainumon. We'd be dead by now, otherwise."

"Don't move too much else you still might be." The dog growled, nodding his head to the side to signal for them to look over the cart's edge.

Beneath the tracks the wall moved straight downwards before hitting the hill's ground. But the earth was covered in spiked briars that covered the entire surface, and then some.

Gin gulped nervously. "Well that definitely was close. At least we know what we have to do, now."

"_Demon Fissure!_" Arainumon was already in the process. His two pairs of twin claws were driven into the glimmering red mass, creating a sharp horizontal crack in its face. Shadowed claws reached out from the crack, startling the others with their closeness at first. They bent back and grabbed at the edges of the crevice, clawing and breaking it to make it large enough, and then vanished in puffs of smoke.

"Excellent!" Nathan cheered, heaving himself up over the edge of the cart and crawling over to the hole in the wall. "Oh, oh no."

"What?" Audrey peeked out from behind him, trying to see past the fluffy head of purple hair. "What's wrong?"

"Um." The other boy turned around. "You know how it looked like a maze from way up there…? I think it is one."

Gin cocked her head. "I figured that would have been obvious."

And sure enough, the darkened corridors of the structure stretched out in both directions, a few possible exits scattered about, and a dead end to their left. Upon closer inspection of the walls, they could see that they were thinly covered in small vines which had plump red strawberries growing from them. Even though these halls were just about completely lightless, the fruit seemed to thrive. However, the living conditions of plants didn't exactly help their current situation.

"We do need to get through it, anyway." Muzenmon pointed out. "We don't have an alternate route."

"But who knows how long it would take to get through it…" Zotzmon considered their timeframe, and how long Nagamon had been waiting.

Arainumon grunted. With a swift motion he leaped from the cart to the edge of the fissure, relieving a large amount of weight which made the cart teeter nervously for a moment. "Nothing's telling us we have to follow the rules of mazes."

"I don' really know what 'e means by that…" Lutramon said, watching Arainumon's twin tails vanish behind the ruby as he leaped through the hole. The others cautiously made to follow, climbing over and, thankful that the drop to the temple ground was a short one, landing just behind the large dog.

The canine was sniffing different areas of the wall, presumably searching for something. Within a few moments he paused and without warning, hit the crimson wall with another Demon Fissure.

Before the others had a chance to stop coughing, Arainumon had already crawled through the crack, and was assaulting the wall behind it.

"Oh, I see." Zuru shook rubies out of her hair as she followed the ever proceeding red tails. "Why bother wasting time with the maze when we can just go through the whole thing."

"But doesn't this seem… I dunno, overly _destructive_?" Kotamon frowned.

Ospreymon shrugged at the feline. "Personally I'm kind of sick of these temples and their weirdness, this is the last one isn't it? I'd be glad to do whatever it takes to go home."

"Unfortunately your idea of home is kind of different from ours…" Audrey muttered.

The bird gave his partner a sideways glance, without pausing. "I meant it as a general term; we Digimon don't usually have homes."

"…Oh."

"Oy, Arainumon!" Nathan called out to his partner. "Where are we going? What were you sniffing out?"

The white dog paused his siege only to respond. "What I assumed was the center. Straight through there, and onwards, and we should be hitting solid ground."

"Well that's good to hear." The boy nodded as Arainumon resumed his Demon Fissures.

It felt like quite a while before the shadowy claws opened the way to a cavernous main room, they vanished in puffs of smoke as Arainumon's accumulated fatigue caused him to revert to his Rookie stage.

Nathan caught the canine before he hit the floor hard, and hoisted him up onto his back as the others went on ahead.

The room was, as expected, similar to all the others – high ceilings and an architecturally intricate centerpiece. But the floor of the area was made of packed soil, with twisting paths of ruby brick snaking over it. The earthy scent was welcoming after the stuffiness and dust of the maze corridors. What looked like thick roots spiraled up from the center of the room, they were grooved to imitate a staircase. Their tips narrowed and twisted at the top, forming a small platform with an ornate, glittering basin.

"Oh good, we hit the main room." Gin sighed with relief. "But what are we going to do about the other half? Canismon looks exhausted and none of us can even think to go at these walls…"

"I don't think we need to worry about that!" Zuru called from the other side of the root spire. The others blinked in confusion before heading towards their team mate.

And there, where it had moments before been hidden by the roots, were the front doors; standing tall and strong with their shimmering, mirrored surface and the thick lock in place between the two sides.

"At least it's no trouble to open it…" Canismon muttered from the spot on the floor where he was laying.

Audrey gave him a look of concern. "I thought Nathan was keeping you up?"

"Sorry!" The other boy called, slightly out of breath. He was running down the staircase with murky red beads in his hand. "I didn't want to feel like I wasn't one of the cool kids." He grinned, and promptly hoisted his partner back onto his back.

"Alright. Let's get out of this dirty old place." Ospreymon said while giving the packed earth floor an unimpressed expression. Canismon grunted his offence.

The troupe walked towards the giant glassy doors, and Nathan lifted his partner's paw to the padlock. A satisfying click resounded in the chamber, and the lock fell open. He pulled it apart and let it fall to the floor, and together they pushed the heavy doors open.

The sunlight caught them off guard after being indoors for so long, and as their vision slowly recovered, they gazed outwards on a vast field of dark sand.

"This seems really anti-climactic somehow." Said Audrey, his eyes following the spires of the mountains they had previously seen, which were considerably closer now that the temple was behind them.

Muzenmon smiled. "Don't worry, we're almost out of here, we just need to cross this small desert."

"'Small' and 'desert' don't usually go together very well…" Gin grumbled to herself.

The bee ignored this. "Once we get to those mountains, we'll be able to plan out how to get you kids home." She smiled to herself, glancing sideways at her partner, whose eyes were rapidly looking around – a sign that he was nervous.

Zuru breathed a sigh of relief. "I can't wait…"

And so they headed down the rough ruby-plated steps, their feet sinking slightly as they hit the darkened sand of the desert ahead. Occasionally they made small talk, but mostly they were silent, the teens basking in their own thoughts of being done and accomplished, and the Digimon pretty sure of themselves that there was supposed to be more to this.

They didn't even notice when Zotzmon and Muzenmon lagged behind, and they continued in a straight line, heading for the tallest of the mountains.

"Did you guys hear that?" Nathan questioned.

"Yeah. S'my tummy. I'm real hungry." Lutramon answered, rubbing her furry black stomach with one of her short front paws.

"No no…it came from somewhere around us…"

Audrey suddenly stopped in his tracks. "Oh no."

Then without further warning, the ground beneath them sunk, the sand spiraled down into a reverse cone. They scrambled to grasp what they were once standing on, but to no avail, the grains of sand slipped through their fingers and their limbs were rendered useless as their weight and the motion of the ground pulled them downwards.

"Audrey!!" Ospreymon called to his partner, he was flying close above them, trying to grab anyone's hand in hopes they would link together and could be pulled out.

"Nectar Lance!" A thin streak of yellow particles hit the raptor in the back of the head, knocking him out and sending him down with the rest of the team.

The bat and the bee watched as the eight bodies were pulled into the center of the swirling hole, victims of a giant ant lion's trap.

Zotzmon looked his partner over. "You didn't have to knock him out. Just sticking his wings together would have been sufficient."

Muzenmon shrugged. "It was my last chance. That one really pissed me off, anyway."

"Everything pisses you off…"

"You don't…" The bee gave the other the softest expression she could muster.

Zotzmon rolled his eyes and looked away. "I never fall for that, Muzenmon."

The bee immediately reverted to her usual smirking expression. "Let's head back to Nagamon. It won't be long before the Miermon take care of them."

Together they flew over the dark sand, neither one sparing a glance at the spot the team had vanished into, where the sand had just about leveled out once more.

* * *

Audrey struggled to ease his eyes open, but stopped immediately when he could feel grains of sand loosening from his eyelashes. Slowly he sat up, shaking his hair out with his hands. He rubbed at his eyes, letting automatic tears wash out the sand, and wiping the rest out on his sleeve. The surroundings were cave-like, tunnels stretched in all directions, and tiny lights covered the walls in straight lines. Suddenly he straightened up, remembering his partner, and whipped around a few times before finding him crumpled behind him.

"Oh no…Ospreymon…" His hands hesitated over the green feathery form before lifting him up, his head hanging limp. Upon retracting his hand from behind his neck, he noticed the sticky yellow powder that covered his fingered. "She didn't…"

A small sound came from the bird's throat, and his eyes eased open, the violet irises looking directly at the concerned boy's face. "Aud…"

His head jerked to look at the Digimon's face once more. "Oh thank god you're not dead. What happened?" But Ospreymon had fazed back into unconsciousness. Audrey smiled a little, and moved the large bird onto his back. He stood and glanced around him, five tunnels branching out from where he was. There wasn't much else for him to do but to walk on and at least try to find the others. So he chose the tunnel that looked the least claustrophobic and began walking.

* * *

"What are these things!?" Zuru whipped around, staring down each of the Digimon that surrounded her, Gin, and their two partners.

"This can't be a good situation…"

Lutramon hulked in front of her partner's feet, trying to look as threatening as she could.

"They're Miermon…" Kotamon muttered. "They build _huge_ colonies, but you barely ever see them above ground. Those who _do_ don't usually come back."

The four were surrounded by about two dozen of these Digimon. They looked like giant, glimmering black ants. Their mouth pincers were twice the size of their heads, and their antennae looked like spears. Spines covered their bodies and their abdomens were transparent, full of slightly glowing orange syrup. Eyes like amber stared at them, and their skulls were topped with antlers.

One of them shook its head threateningly, and they began advancing.

"Quick! Gin, Zuru, get us glowin'!" Lutramon called out.

The two girls nodded, their Digivices already in their hands. Blue and green light illuminated the cavern, and their partner Digimon gained the same glow.

"Lutramon_ evolve_… Neptumon!"

"Kotamon_ evolve_… Fuurinmon!"

Neptumon's head scraped the roof of the cave, and she bent low over the feline, whose winds were stirring sand up all around them.

The Miermon hesitated for a moment, looking at each other and communicating without words, and then they all advanced.

* * *

Canismon was on his feet, poking at the purple-haired boy with his nose and claws, not unlike a real dog. "Nathan… come on…"

"Mrrg…" The boy grumbled. "I stole the cookies from the cookie jar, I'm sorry…" He waved his hand a bit and rolled over.

The dog stared at him, expressionless. He positioned his mouth in front of a sleeved arm, opened it, and slowly bit down.

It took a few seconds for the boy to yelp and shoot into a seated position, the dog had let go of his arm and was giving him a condescending expression.

"What? Where are we, Canismon?"

They were, like the others, in a cavernous tunnel. Rather, the end of one. They were in a cavernous chamber, and a tunnel led out on one wall. They were completely surrounded by what looked like the inside of a beehive, except with circles rather than the usually hexagonal shape of a honeycomb, and it was all made of packed dirt. Every single hollowed out cell was filled with a shining black larva.

"I'd assume some sort of…breeding chamber. We don't know what we're dealing with…so it's likely best not to…touch anything."

"They're kind of cute actually, if you look at them the right way." Nathan was handling one of the black grubs, which was staring at him with shiny black eyes, tiny white pincers surrounded its mouth, and it had white knobs on its forehead, making it difficult to tell what was its up and what was its down.

"Nathan! What did I just say!?"

The boy looked over, a little shocked. He had clearly not been listening to the dog and was very caught off guard by his panicked tone. "Oh don't worry, I'm not hurting it. I'll put it back!" He looked down at the larva, which was nuzzling into his arm and making a light purring sound. "Aw… but I think it likes me."

The white dog was trying to quickly figure out how to separate the larva from his partner without hurting it in the process. He didn't even want to think about what would happen if they were caught.

Nathan was making baby faces at the black larva, which was giggling in a squishy way. Its skin was shiny and slightly reflected their surroundings, and the boy froze when he saw movement behind him, which wasn't his partner.

The pair turned around, faced with half a dozen Miermon. Nathan slowly bent down and returned the larva to its cell, the straightened up and inched closer to his partner. There was no way Canismon could evolve now; he was still much too tired from smashing down the temple.

Without warning, the Miermon came towards the two; they both shut their eyes and expected the worst when giant pincers closed around them. It took a moment for them to realize they weren't being horribly crushed. Instead, they were being carried swiftly through the tunnels. The tiny lights on the walls whizzed by. They saw dozens, likely hundreds of Miermon in the tunnels, none of which even gave them a glance.

They shot each other nervous glances, but when they looked at their captors they saw very little expression in their amber eyes. Moments later, they were brought to what looked like a dirt staircase. It went on for a long time, and other Miermon were climbing up and down them, some of them carrying indiscernible things in their pincers.

Soon enough they were faced with a grand underground chamber. The lights attached to the walls were considerably larger, and different colored mounts of dirt lined the walls. Nathan and Canismon were dropped to the ground, and once they stood, they were pushed forwards by the Miermon's antlered heads.

The pair walked forward, their way was clear; it was almost as if there was a path etched into the ground. They could very well see what they were approaching, but neither wanted to think of what awaited them.

Finally they stopped, and it was almost instinctive for them to fall to their knees. Before them was a simple earthen throne, and seated on it was a Digimon that was clearly the leader of this colony – the Queen. Or rather, Reinamiermon. Her antlers stretched out and above her, and her body was covered with layers and layers of robes. Her pincers were not as large compared to her head, which was angled and smooth. Her first set of legs looked like hands, and they were wrapped in shawls. Long, pearlescent wings stretched from her thorax, and lay over the ground behind her. Her swollen abdomen was supported by mounds of dirt, and all but the end of it was covered in a glimmering blanket of what looked like amber scales.

Canismon was looking at her with little expression on his face, while Nathan was trembling. The Queen simply stared down at them with her large amber eyes.


End file.
